


Silver Hills

by UnicornAffair



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: All girls boarding school, Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Blood, F/F, Lots of Gay!, Magic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Multiple, Past Abuse, Past Sexual Abuse, Rating May Change, Roommates, Supernatural Elements, Tags May Change, Vampires, Werewolves, not an abo fic, wanting to make sure that's tagged and warned about as it's mentioned
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:01:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 50,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24423937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnicornAffair/pseuds/UnicornAffair
Summary: June was determined to get her daughter's act cleaned up. Her solution to the problem, boarding school. An all girls boarding school for Trini to stop having to move around so much. Too bad her roommate, Kimberly Hart, wanted nothing to do with her and...the town of Silver Hills...something was off about this place.
Relationships: Emma Goodall/Gia Moran, Kimberly Hart/Trini, Lauren Shiba/Mia Watanabe
Comments: 243
Kudos: 242





	1. A Fresh Start

**Author's Note:**

> So we're in month...god almost 4 of this quarantine situation. I went through a very bad slump of creative writing and right now in these trying times...I want to get back into writing and posting and giving you all something to read and take your minds off of the scary world outside the door. I'm hoping that a new story, a new setting, a new genre even will help light that fire again. 
> 
> The rating will probably change when things get further in, but we'll see!
> 
> TW: Blood. There will be some blood in this chapter!
> 
> Also Jason, Billy and Zack will make an appearance, don't worry I didn't forget our boys!

“A fresh start is just what you need” 

Ha, what June Gomez meant was a fresh start that would actually stick. 

Trini’s entire life circled around her father’s job, bouncing into a new home, a new town before they barely had a chance to settle and make friends. Trini was used to being the new girl _always._ With the constant migrating lifestyle, the seventeen year old stopped _caring_ so much about school, why bother trying when her entire life would be uprooted again? When she wasn’t blowing off classes and detentions she found ways to feel _some_ sort of joy.

Getting arrested _wasn’t_ part of her plan. 

It was only a little pot. Honestly, with all of the city and state jumping, it was hard to remember where it was even _legal._ Phoenix? Yeah, not so much without a medical excuse. 

Seeing her daughter spiraling into disappointment, June had to take action. Trini needed a crash course in discipline, and structure, something the Gomez family couldn’t give her. Boarding school seemed a bit _extreme,_ but living at school meant that she could finish out high school in one place. Trini tried to fight it tooth and nail, but as soon as she learned that Hawthorne Academy was an _all girls school_ she was quick to shut up. An all girls school and no nagging mother to annoy her? That sounded like paradise.

Only this paradise was in the middle of nowhere, a small town in Maine the far Northeast state of the union. In a road trip that felt like it would never end, Trini leaned up against the window of the car to see pine trees, a vast forest, instead of a metropolis. The city girl wasn’t a fan of _nature,_ it was nice to look at, as were the lakes but...it was _far_ too quiet for her liking. Silver Hills as a town wasn’t _much._ Their “downtown” consisted of a couple of streets, liked with cute, family owned places. This was a far cry from _Chicago, LA, Denver, Miami_ ...in a big city Trini could fade away, be _invisible._ Here? That was a different story.

Hawthorne Academy, a beautiful stone building, stood proud on the top of the hill; surrounded in nature's bounty. Boarding school would be an entirely different monster, _towers_ where the students dorm rooms would be. _This_ would be her life now. A life where teenagers outnumbered the adults, school uniforms were mandatory...there was no turning back now. 

“Are you nervous?” June asked, pulling up to the side parking lot. The matriarch of the Gomez family had to come to terms with her daughter’s budding sexuality. If Trini _had_ to be gay, at least a fine establishment like this would be a better dating pool. June was _very_ strategic in her choice of an all girls school. She wanted to inspire Trini to _have_ aspirations, to _make_ something of herself...and for a partner that had a _future._ For Mrs. Gomez, she always had to think six steps ahead. 

“You’re throwing me into an estrogen jungle” As much as Trini _loved_ girls, she knew that keeping too many of them bottled up in one place could only mean _drama_ and cattiness. Those were two things she could step back and avoid with ease, if she was never _noticed_ she could never be a problem...or worse, a target. If she ever _were_ to have friends, she gravitated towards guys...female friendships were much harder for her to navigate. “Not looking forward to the uniform” Grey skirt, purple jacket, grey vest, white dress shirt, purple tie. A lot of purple for the Hawthorne Academy Huskies. Purple represented regality, wisdom, and creativity, building blocks for girls. 

“It builds character” Really, June _hated_ Trini’s choice in fashion. Baggy pants, loose fitting shirts, jackets, the beanies. Her daughter was _so_ beautiful, yet she would always _hide herself._ Clothes to Trini were like a protective shield, a way to make herself uninviting so people wouldn’t bother to _try_ and interact.

Seventeen years of life and Trini could fit all of her essentials in one 30" piece of luggage. Her beloved metal posters were put right in the garbage and didn’t make the cut. June insisted that she make the _best_ first impression on her roommate. Ugh. A roommate, that was another thing she wasn’t looking forward to. Trini wanted to do herself, and the poor girl, a favor by cutting this little mother daughter moment short. 

“Look” Trini didn’t want for this to get emotional, for either of them. After June drove away, she would be _alone,_ in a place where nobody knew her. No more safety net of her parents looking out for her, no more brothers to babysit. Trini couldn’t be the girl who cried in the first five minutes of arriving, “We don’t have to do _this”_ She didn’t want her mom to come with her and help unpack, to make the goodbye harder. “I can take it from here” 

“Are you sure?”

“Ah you’re only going to cramp my style” Leave it to Trini to fall back on a joke. “Please?” 

June sighed, she had driven all this way just to be told to turn back around. This was something her daughter had to do, “You’ve grown up so fast” She opened her arms, “Will you at least humor me?”

While Trini appeared to be reluctant on the outside, she craved the hug. She wasn’t ready to be thrown into the deep end, but she knew how to appear tough and put together. Putting on a front was something she became an expert at. For all of June and Trini’s arguments, June was still Trini’s mother...and a part of her would miss her, her dad and the twins. “I’ll be back for Thanksgiving” _November_ felt so far away… “You won’t even know I’m gone”

“If I wasn’t outnumbered before…” June trailed off, with her husband and her sons the boy girl ratio would be completely unbalanced. “Will you call?”

Trini nodded her head, she knew that shipping her off to boarding school wasn’t an easy choice. She wanted to prove to her mom that she was more than just a kid who snuck out of the house to get into trouble. Hawthorne Academy was her chance to start a fresh page, to really _make_ something of herself. Maybe by Thanksgiving her mother could actually say that she was _proud_ of her, “I promise” She pulled away from the hug, “...Love you” 

“I love you too” A sentiment that wasn’t often said between the two Gomez women, but both of them knew the moment Trini entered that building that nothing would _ever_ be the same. 

“Okay” June’s sigh was shaky, she was fighting every urge to let go there and then. Crying was for the car ride back, not in front of Trini’s new school where undoubtedly they were being watched by nosy girls in the tower. “Goodbye Trini…”

“Bye mom…” 

Trini stood by her suitcase and watched her mother get back into the car, she put her hand up as a last sort of wave goodbye. She waited and watched to see her mom off. It wouldn’t be months until she saw her or the rest of her family in person. No more safety net. It was time to face her new life. 

In her pocket she pulled out a crumpled up official document from the school listing what she would need, as well as her room assignment. 217. _West 217._ At least she wouldn’t be very high up in the tower, there was a plus there. She could _feel_ like every step was being watched by the girls around her, they must not get new blood often. Trini noticed along the way that girls would decorate their doors to give themselves some sort of individuality in a school where everyone dressed the same. Pictures, a dry erase board covered in notes, decorative flowers or stars cut out from paper. 217, not so much. A blank wooden door with absolutely no personality. Ha, maybe she was lucky, maybe she didn’t have a roommate.

Trini took the key that was provided from the school and opened the door, her chest bubbling up with anxiety. She wasn’t good with first impressions, certainly not to the potential upper crust of an all girls private school. Please don’t suck. She prayed to herself hoping for the best…

Her roommate was naturally startled by the sound of someone at the door. Trini guessed that she was sitting at her desk, only to shoot up to her feet upon sensing that someone was coming in to invade her personal space. The room itself wasn’t very big, as expected for a _dorm_ setting, two beds, two desks, two small closets. Like the door out front, the walls were bare, leaving no personal trace to who this girl was. All Trini had to go by was her appearance, slender, short brown hair in a messy bob, deep brown eyes... _hot._ All girls school was already shaping up to be amazing.

“What’re you doing in here?” Her eyes had narrowed in on the new girl, her lips forming into a thin line trying to suss Trini out. “This is _my_ room” Her chin rose, definitely trying to intimidate Trini, the girl stepping into her territory.

“Correction, _our_ room” Trini heaved her one piece of luggage into the room. Make a good first impression, make a good first impression. The last thing she wanted to deal with was _roommate_ drama, this place was far too small for that. “I’m Trini, your new roommate” She tried her best to smile, despite her roommate’s icy demeanor. 

The other girl didn’t look thrilled, she barely acknowledged her hand, “I’m sorry but there must be some sort of mistake” What a stone cold spoiled….

“...Is this _not_ 217 West?” Of course it was, the stupid assigned key worked on the door.

“I don’t _have_ a roommate” The taller girl shook her head, clearly annoyed that she wouldn’t be spending this semester in a single. “Don’t get comfortable here, and don’t bother to unpack” 

“Sorry to burst your bubble sweetcheeks” Trini regretted the use of the word _sweetcheeks_ immediately, but she didn’t care _who_ this girl was. She wasn’t going to be bullied out of her room. Trini wasn’t the weak pushover, “But there’s _two beds, two desks, two closets,_ I’m your academy-appointed roommate” The other bunk was lofted, so Trini couldn’t make a statement by setting her luggage on top of it. “So let’s start this again, hi. I’m _Trini,_ your new roommate. What’s _your_ name?” Trini had grown up in the city, _multiple_ cities at that. She’s seen it all when it comes to self absorbed bitches. Daddy’s little girl who got everything she wanted out of his wallet, yeah, she knew the type.

The girl with the short hair clenched her teeth, her eyes traveling up and down Trini’s form. She was able to make any assumption she needed about Trini in a span of ten seconds. Short, middle class, tragic sense of fashion, she reeked with a false tough persona. As far as Trini’s new roommate was concerned, she was _nothing._ “I’m going to have a _long_ talk to the Headmaster about this”

“Ookay” Trini rolled her eyes, climbing up the loft and sitting on the bed. She shrugged her shoulders, “I’ll be here when you get back”

“Not if I have anything to say about it” She punctuated by clicking her tongue, leaving their room in an utter huff. Well, Trini lasted five minutes with one Hawthorne Academy student and her existence pissed her off so much that she couldn’t bear to be in the same room with her. 

Things were starting off _great._

*****

Trini later learned that her roommate's name was Kimberly Hart, the Headmaster or whoever she talked to to try to kick Trini out wasn’t having it. A part of Trini wished she _would_ get a transfer, she always felt like she was being watched, that she had to walk around eggshells with the other girl. Kimberly was _so_ particular with _every_ little thing... _especially_ when it came to sounds. Trini felt like she had to _live_ in her headphones or else she’d get her head bitten off. The other part was glad that the Academy stuck to it’s guns and didn’t let a _brat_ get her way just because she had a little tantrum.

Safe to say it was a long weekend where Kimberly was either _out_ of the room, doing her best to _ignore_ Trini or sending the new girl looks as a reminder that she was unwelcome in this small space. 

The problem Trini was quick to run into was that being the new girl at a boarding school, _sucked._ It seemed like everyone was already _established_ with their long standing friendships and cliques that they weren’t about to let anyone new in to rock the boats. Routine, uniform...no one was outright _mean_ to her (outside of Kimberly), but just like any other school, Trini felt like she was completely invisible. 

Guess she got what she wanted?

No. 

Trini had her lunch in her tray. If she was going to _try_ at having a clean slate and _doing_ _better_ she couldn’t let herself fade into the paint on the walls. This was an all _girls_ school, statistically there had to be _someone_ out here that could connect with her...that was also into girls...Trini couldn’t let her gaydar fail her now. Her sights honed in on a girl out in the courtyard, a dirty blonde with long wavy hair. She wasn’t properly sitting in a chair, but on a table, a pen in her mouth and playing an acoustic guitar without a damn care in the world...that was someone Trini wanted to get to know. 

Nothing was ever going to _happen_ to Trini if she stood by the sidelines. She approached the girl carefully, trying her best to not look like a lost kitten trying to get adopted, “Mind if I sit?” 

The girl tilted her head, squinting, she had to take the pen out of her mouth before speaking, “I haven’t seen you before” She made the observation, pointing the writing utensil at this shiny new person. 

“I’m new” Trini stated the obvious.

“Hey New, I’m Kira” She playfully winked, showing that not everyone here was as stuck up as Trini feared they would. All a person needed was _one_ friend to survive anything, at least that was what June would always tell her. Kira tapped her foot on the chair _she_ was supposed to be sitting in, an invitation to let Trini join her. “Where’re you from?”

“Everywhere” Trini was quick to take Kira’s invitation. “You name it, I probably lived there” If Trini was going to _make_ any allies here she’d have to open up, share a bit about herself. Silver Hills and Hawthorne Academy wasn’t just a _school,_ this was her new _home._ “My dad’s job bounced us around the country. Last place I lived was Angel Grove, California” Trini picked up a piece of her grilled chicken sandwich, one thing she could be impressed with here was the _food,_ “My mom wanted to give me stability so…”

“Mmm” Kira seemed to understand completely, so much so that she set her guitar down to rest beside her. Now that she had the company, she wasn’t going to have much time to play, “My parents wanted to keep me out of trouble” Trini could _feel_ the other girl trying to hold back a laugh, “And Hawthorne has one helluva music program so, here I am”

“God, why couldn’t _you_ be my roommate?” Trini released an exasperated, defeated sigh, it was already two minutes and she felt more warmth from the aspiring musician than she did with her current roommate of a couple of days.

“Who’ve they got you saddled up with?” 

“Kimberly Hart” With her head, Trini motioned inside where her icy cold roommate was sitting with three other girls. The plastics, the queen bees, whatever the one’s with social power were called around these parts...Kimberly Hart was it. It was as if there was an invisible box surrounding their table and only those who were worthy could cross it’s threshold. 

_“Oh”_ Her cocky confident smile quickly construed into an _eeesh,_ “Yikes, sorry to hear that” Brown eyes got lost staring into the cafeteria, watching as the it-girls laughed and enjoyed their lunch. “Yeah, you don’t wanna tango with them”

“What’s the big deal?” Trini asked, not even knowing who the other three girls _were._

“Well, thankfully you’ve got _me_ here to watch your back” Kira patted her chest before sitting directly next to Trini, “Kimberly Hart, the _heart_ of Hawthorne. She’s the captain of the field hockey team and the _one_ person you don’t wanna cross. She’ll destroy you. I think field hockey is her way of letting out her aggression. Girl’s got some _issues”_

“See the girl on the right? That’s Mia Watanbe” An Asian girl with long straight hair, “She’s the brain, president of god knows how many clubs. The over achiever with her head up any professors’ ass. A complete teacher's pet.” Kira pretended to stretch to see if anyone was trying to overhear their little conversation, “Between you and me? I think she’s the type to screw her way to the top”

_“Oh”_

“Welcome to _private school_ honey. Scandals and things that happen behind closed doors are the norm here” She draped her arm around Trini’s shoulders, a personal bubble wasn’t in Kira’s vocabulary, “The blonde? That’s Gia Moran, Kimberly’s _bitch.”_ Trini’s eyes shifted to a blonde with short wavy hair and green eyes, she was currently leaning back to whisper something to Kimberly. “Her number two and muscle. No Kimberly doesn’t fight her own battles, she gets Gia to do her dirty work. She’s a grunt” A pause, “A sexy grunt but...she’ll do anything Kim asks like a _bulldog”_

“I don’t think bulldogs are that dangerous”

Kira rolled her eyes, “Fine, a _pitbull_ then.” She shook her head, the nerve of Trini, “I’m trying to give you the low down here”

“Okay...what about that girl...in Gia’s lap?” 

_“Emma Goodall”_ Kira sighed, “She’s Gia’s _girlfriend”_ Trini knew the rumors of an all girls school being _gay,_ but she wasn’t expecting it to be so _open._ In a way she felt a wave of relief that two of the _most popular_ girls in school were seen dating each other, showing affection with one another. This wasn’t going to be a thing she’d have to worry about hiding, or to be teased about...she could just _be._ “You’ll never see Gia without Emma, I swear to Christ those two are always attached at each other's hip. Literally. They’re _roommates_ too. Out of the four? Emma’s the _sweet_ one. I don’t think there’s a mean bone in that girl’s body” Trini was surprised, outside of her relationship with Gia...Kira didn’t really have much to say about Emma. 

“If there’s _four_ of them, why couldn’t Mia just be Kimberly’s roommate?”

“Mia’s roommate is _Lauren Shiba”_ Kira’s eyes darted around the cafeteria but there was no sign of the girl in question, “I don’t really know how to explain _her''_ How ominous. “Look, I’m gonna warn you now, don’t mess with those four, don’t play their little games or get involved with anything they do. They’re _close,_ weirdly close...rumor had it that the four of them even...y’know, know each other biblically, a part of me wonders how true that even is”

“Y’think?” With _four people?_ She knew that in small towns like Silver Hills people had to make their own fun but...oh wow. Surely that was just a rumor that got out of hand, this was an _all girls school._ The rumor mill and blowing things out of proportion would be typical. A story could easily get twisted. With the way Gia and Emma were all over one another, they didn’t seem to be the sharing type. “What happened to Kimberly’s old roommate?” 

“Ahhh mmmm that’s a story for another day” Kira seemed a bit uncomfortable at that question, waving her hand as if trying to swat the question away like a fly. Kimberly was living in a _double,_ not a single which meant there _was_ somebody in that spot before Trini had moved in. The aspiring musician got up from her seat, putting her guitar in her case to try and break up the line of questioning by physically moving. “Hey, do you have plans tonight?”

“You’re kidding right?” Until this lunch period, Trini didn’t have any _friends,_ how was she supposed to have plans, “You’re changing the subject” How was Kira going to leave Trini so suddenly, just like _that?_ She was quick to imply that Mia may be out seducing teachers but _nothing_ on Kimberly’s old roommate? Not even a _name?_

“I’m _definitely_ changing the subject” Kira admitted with a laugh as she opened her backpack up, pulling out a brightly colored flier moments later, “I’m playing downtown tonight if you want a break from these stone walls”

“...Isn’t this a bar?”

“There’s not many venues around these parts” Kira shrugged her shoulders, “I can put you on my list” A smile tugged at her lips, this was her way at trying to get Trini’s actual name. 

“Trini” A pause, “Trini Gomez”

Did she just make a friend?

*****

That night, Trini watched as Kimberly got ready for _going out with the girls._ Even though it was a Monday, it wouldn’t stop the Academy girls from wanting to get off campus and do something fun. Kimberly wore a tight white knit dress, a black leather jacket, and black boots so high they went above her knee. 

“You look good,” Trini commented, breaking Kimberly from her routine of checking herself out in the mirror. If Trini was going to have to _live_ with Kimberly she wanted things to be easier, to be able to talk to her, even if it was bullshit small talk. “Big plans?” They didn’t have to be _friends,_ clearly Kimberly was set up on that front. 

Kimberly’s chest tightened, “I forgot you were here” She admitted, shaking her head, exhaling, “I’ve got a lot on my mind” Kimberly turned to see that her roommate was sitting on the edge of her lofted bed. Trini was so short that the ceiling wasn’t a problem. This was the most Trini had gotten out of her roommate, there was no bite or malice in her tone. Things may already be looking up, “Going to go blow off some steam downtown” She looked back at her reflection, bringing her hands to her hair to toss it, mess it up a bit.

“Oh my ah” Trini pointed down to the bright yellow flier that sat on her desk, “My friend’s playing at some bar tonight if you wanted some live music?” As much as Trini didn’t _like_ Kimberly, there was something about her that made Trini want to _try._

Kimberly turned, her brow quirking when she saw the name attached to the ad. _Kira Ford._ “Mm, looks like you’ve settled in here” What with having a total of one friendly acquaintance in all. 

“I’m sorry? Is Kimberly Hart capable of being _nice_ to the roommate?” Trini teased, unable to help herself. When Kimberly looked up to meet Trini’s eyes, the shorter girl tilted her head, “You’re a total ice queen control freak”

“I got used to living alone” Kimberly admitted, shrugging her shoulders. Trini put a hand to her ear, waiting for the words _I’m sorry,_ “That wasn’t fair” A pause, a tick, she wasn’t going to admit she was in the wrong any time soon, “Your taste in music sucks”

A heavy sigh, “Back to the music thing?” 

“It gives me a headache"

“Your _face_ gives me a headache” Trini rebutted quickly as if she was sounding off with one of her little brothers and not the most powerful girl in school. 

“Clever” Kimberly rolled her eyes, going back to being done with her roommate. To think they were actually bonding. “Maybe I’ll see you around” She opened the door, and her number two Gia was already waiting for her, her green eyes trained and locked on Trini, “And Trini? Do yourself a favor and change” She reached over to hold the blonde’s hand, “You ready?” She asked softly, to which Gia responded without a word but an affirming nod of her head. 

When the door closed behind the two young women, Trini released a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. There was something about being under Gia’s scrutinizing gaze that instantly put Trini on edge. Was that some sort of hazing the new girl tactic? Try to intimidate the hell out of her? Trini put a hand on her arm, the hair was standing straight up. _Shit._ Trini was never the type to feel like the deer caught in the headlights…

What was so wrong about this outfit?

*****

 _The Twisted Moose_ was an interesting name for a dive bar out in the middle of nowhere. With there being such vast forests around, a big theme around here had to do with woodland creatures. Inside the sights were to be expected, a homey cabin feel fully equipped with heads of stags on the wall. There were plenty of booths that lined the walls, smaller tables, and of course a wrap around bar fully stocked with tvs for the locals to watch their sports. This was a place to be for those locals, regulars after long days of work with the need to blow off steam. 

When Trini entered her hand had to be stamped marking her as underage and off limits to the bar as well as to the young adults in the building looking for some fresh faced doe eyed new meat. This was a far cry from bars or nightclubs Trini had seen in the past, there was a small stage set up for Kira to play. There wasn’t a place to dance, the live music was to fill the ambiance in the background. Trini was quick to realize with her one and only _‘friend’_ playing up on stage, she would be alone...watching, with no one to make conversation with. 

Oh Kira _so_ owed her for this.

Trini waved to make herself known, the dirty blonde’s face lit up that _someone_ came to actually see her. If Kira was by herself at lunch, it meant that she didn’t exactly fit in or break into Hawthorne Academy well. She didn’t have friends to call her tribe, and likely was more trouble than her parents wanted to deal with. Trini could deal with trouble, she was far from miss perfect herself. There was so much about her new friend that she wanted to know…

When Kira started her set, acoustic covers of classic rock songs, Trini was enamored by her voice. She should have guessed the other girl was so talented, but it was another thing entirely to hear her sing. Trini felt like one of the judges on tv, blown away by some small town girl with big dreams. Not having anyone to talk to, Trini used this time to order a glass of water and do some reflection…how was her mom doing? Did the boys even miss having her around? Was Trini really cut out for living out by herself? Would she ever actually be friends with Kimberly? ...Was that something she even wanted? There was so much she didn’t know about Hawthorne Academy or the town of Silver Hills. 

Considering all she had been doing for the past half hour was sitting by herself, Trini was sure Kira wouldn’t mind if she started to explore the bar a bit. There was an entirely separate room for billiards. Trini was no stranger to the game of pool. Back in Angel Grove, Trini had spent a lot of her time avoiding coming home and going to the rec center, where she spent a lot of time hustling and earning some extra cash for her... _recreational activity._ She spotted two filipina girls in the little pool hall, both sporting a U on their hand which meant one of two things...they were girls who went to Hawthorne just like Trini or they came in from the local high school. Trini spent all of three days at the Academy, faces didn’t exactly stick…

The girl with short hair, with pink streaks was leaning forward to make a tough shot, just enough for her top to ride up revealing a pink butterfly lower back tattoo. The other girl, the one with the longer hair and softer demeanor was the one to take notice of Trini. “You wanna play?” The girl wearing the light blue cardigan handed the newcomer to the room the pool cue. 

“Oh, sure, thanks...if you don’t...mind” Trini felt bad, pool wasn’t exactly a game for _three_ people. “I don’t wanna ruin your game”

“Ha, trust me” The girl with the butterfly tattoo didn’t even turn to acknowledge Trini, instead she lined up her shot and with expert aim and force was able to bank a solid ball into the corner pocket like an expert. “You’re doing my sister a favor”

“I can only take so much of her ego” Said the sister with a roll of her eyes. “Besides, I’m getting hungry” The girl in blue motioned to the main bar area behind her, “Anything in there look good to you?”

The girl in black and pink turned, her expression going from indifference to intrigued when she laid eyes on Trini, giving her the quick one up. “I’m good right here” She licked her lips, clearly wanting something that wasn’t on the menu. 

“Suit yourself”

Trini wasn’t dumb, this girl was clearly very into her, it had been _oh_ so long since she got to flirt properly with a hot girl. Angel Grove, wasn’t exactly filled to the brim with promising opportunities, “Wanna make this game interesting?” Trini pulled out her wallet and set down a twenty dollar bill. For someone who didn’t have a job and relied on her mother’s allowance to keep her going, a twenty was a lot of money. 

“I’ll bite” Despite having pockets in her pair of tight jeans, the girl reached into her bra to pull out a twenty to match Trini’s bet. “My name’s Vida by the way” She tilted her head, “I think I’d remember a face like yours”

“Well it’s my ah third day here” Trini felt at ease with a girl like Vida in a similar way she felt with Kira. A girl who wasn’t afraid to walk to the beat of her own drum, someone who didn’t hide a part of themselves away. “I’m Trini...I go to Hawthorne” 

Vida leaned forward to rack up the balls, smirking up at Trini as she _knew_ the vest she was wearing gave the girl a view. She was interested alright. “How’re you liking it?”

“It’s ah...intense” And a _lot,_ before Hawthorne Academy Trini’s only school experience was public school. “But this is my chance to start over...be a better me or whatever” Vida motioned for Trini to go first, her mistake. Trini knew how to play, to make boys shut up and eat their words. The break shot went well and even sunk the yellow number 1 into a side pocket, “Guess I’m solids” Since she scored, it meant she would have another turn. Line up the shot annnd bank, the solid green number 6 ball was the next to go. 

Vida blinked, not expecting Trini to be _this_ good of a player, “Call it a lucky shot”

Another shot and bank, solid purple number 4 ball in the far left pocket. “I call it skill”

Eventually Trini _missed,_ allowing Vida a chance to try and catch up. It felt nice to be outside of the Academy walls, to openly _flirt_ with another girl over a game of pool. There was something about Vida that drew her in, the way she coyly smiled at Trini, the way her voice husked when teasing her over a missed shot...the way her hand brushed by Trini’s hip as she passed by. Their banter only felt like the stakes were _rising…_

“Call your shot” Vida stood at the end of the pool table, leaning forward, her gaze locking onto Trini. Maybe this was her way of trying to hustle Trini...to win some cash. 

Trini felt her breath hitch, her heart starting to thump against her chest. Was it the pressure of trying to win? Or the way Vida was watching her... _hungry._ It sent a shiver of excitement down Trini’s spine...to be wanted purely by her looks. It felt dangerous, risky, but _exhilarating._ “Eight ball….side pocket” Trini used her cue to point at one of the middle pockets. 

A quirk of Vida’s brow and Trini forgot how to _function._ Her concentration flew out the window as she hit the cue ball, completely missing the eight ball target and shooting it into the pocket. “Shit” She cursed, she completely blew her chance to secure the win. 

Vida’s smirk was all too wide as she pulled the white cue ball out of the pocket, now she would have the power to place it wherever she wanted. “Eight ball...corner pocket” With one swift shot she hustled Trini out of twenty bucks fair and square. 

“No hard feelings” Vida sauntered over and picked the forty dollars off the table. “You’re good, I’m just better”

“Let’s go again” Trini wasn’t the _best_ when it came to losing, all of this pent up...energy in her system was making her antsy. Call it a competitive drive, or a fire burning within her. 

“Or…” The taller girl brought up her _U_ branded hand to tuck hair behind Trini’s ear. Trini felt her chin tilt up instinctively to her, it was as if she was in a trance, under her spell. Vida leaned down to close the distance, to capture her lips in a kiss. It wasn’t like Trini to kiss a girl in a bar but...being here in Silver Hills, far away from home she could do whatever she wanted, be whoever she wanted and experience new things that she never could back at home.

 _Girlfriend problems._ Ha her mother never liked the girls that Trini found herself attracted to, Vida was no different. The tattoo alone was something June would go _crazy_ over. Maybe it was time to explore something new...she didn’t want to be tied down with a girlfriend or complicated feelings...kissing a girl by a pool table…

Vida stepped forward, Trini stepping back until she felt the pool table behind her. Oh _oh_ this was hot. Trini took it upon herself to sit on the pool table, letting Vida stand between her legs, deepening the kiss. Trini ran her fingers through Vida’s short hair, the other girl pulled away from Trini’s lips to attach to her neck. Trini’s eyes closed, enjoying the sensation until suddenly she felt a sharp pain attached to her neck. Did...did this girl just fucking bite her? 

Trini tried to do what she could by instinctively reaching for Vida’s shoulder, trying to push the girl off of her but she didn’t budge. Instead she started to feel sharp tingles in her neck, weaker by the second, she gasped out but the sound of Kira’s voice took over the bar. She was losing blood and fast…

By some miracle the doors to the game area had opened and suddenly Vida was torn away from Trini’s neck by a flash of blonde. In a low rumbling snarl, the blonde stood defensively between attacker and victim, fuming with anger, “Stay away from her!” It was Gia….and with Gia came…

Trini could feel arms wrapping around her, it had to be Emma, she couldn’t process what was happening around her, just that she was _safe_ for the time being. 

Vida brought her finger to the corner of her mouth, swiping up a trickle of blood that had run down from the forceful separation. “Mm, you’ll do” She put her finger in her mouth to enjoy the last trickle. Vida wasn’t intimidated by the likes of Gia, not one bit, “Tell Kimberly I say _hi.”_


	2. Filling in the Blanks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waking up the next morning, Trini has no recollection on how she got back to Hawthorne. It's time for some answers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't promise that chapters will keep being churned out like this, but this has been a fun au to start and have fun with <3 hope y'all enjoy!

_ “Kimberly...calm down…” _

_ “Calm down? This was an attack on MY roommate, on ME” _

_ “She’s going to be okay” _

_ “How did she even know I had a new roommate? Hm?” _

_ “It’s a small town...word travels fast…” _

_ “I’m sure she could smell the fresh blood and the wide eyed-” _

_ “I don’t want to hear a wisecrack from you, Gia. She got away, her and her sister both. You should’ve killed her” _

_ “In a very public place? Oh yeah that’ll look good! There were too many humans, Kim. I cut her off from her night time snack. Your little roommate is going to be fine” _

_ “Stop fighting guys! Trini may still be able to hear us...” _

_ “Y’think? I dunno she seems pretty out of it…” _

_ “She’s lost a lot of blood” _

_ “Where the hell is Lauren?” _

_ “I texted her! She’s coming…” _

_ “Kim, everything’s going to be okay, they’re just fucking with you...with us” _

_ “No one fucks with me on my territory.” _

*****

Trini woke up in her bed, groggy, sluggish. Was that all a dream? Kira? The bar? ...That girl? Oh god her neck! Trini brought a hand up to where a prominent bite mark should have been only to feel nothing but smooth skin. She wasn’t crazy...she remembered the sexy girl with the butterfly tattoo about to drain her dry. Ugh who  _ did that!?  _ The goth phase was  _ so _ early 2000s. Trini was quick to sit up out of bed and go to the full length mirror Kimberly had set up against the door. She stretched out her neck to get a better view of it in the light only to see that there was nothing there. 

To make matters worse, Kimberly wasn’t in the room. Though with her field hockey stick and dufflebag, Trini could assume that her roommate was at practice...leaving her alone to try and piece together what happened the night before. That was when her alarm started blaring to wake her up as if it were just another weekday.  _ Weekday.  _ Shit. Not only did she have to try and piece together her night, she had to go to  _ classes _ on top of it. 

The second day of the uniform and she wasn’t sure if she could ever get used to feeling like this. Grey skirt, white dress shirt, grey vest, purple tie and optional purple jacket if it were cold outside. With it being early September, even the top north east of the country had its lingering heat. 

How was she supposed to concentrate in Ms. Morgan’s history class? Mr. Leanbow’s algebra class? Mrs. Udonna’s literature lesson? Not to mention crazy Mr. Kanic’s science class...it was going to be a  _ long _ day. 

Biology with Mr. Kanic was one of the only classes that Trini and Kimberly shared with one another. As she was trying to take notes, Trini had that feeling in the back of her head that she was being  _ watched.  _ Sure enough, when she turned her head she caught her roommate’s eye. One to act on it, Trini mouthed a  _ ‘What?”  _ only for Kimberly to turn her head away...favoring the window instead. 

What the  _ hell  _ was her deal?

Lunch couldn’t come soon enough. When the bell rang, Trini made sure she was the first one out of the room. The girl was hellbent on finding the only person there at the Twisted Moose who would actually  _ talk _ to her, maybe get a straight answer.  _ Kira.  _ Sure enough she found her new friend sitting on a table in the courtyard, a notebook in her lap writing down lyrics for her latest assignment. “Oh  _ there _ you are!” Kira shook her head, scoffing, “You didn’t even say goodbye last night, sing me praise,  _ something”  _

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about” Trini couldn’t sit down, she wanted to remain at Kira’s eye level, lowering her voice. “I don’t remember getting home last night” She whispered, “You didn’t see  _ anything _ at all?”

“Ummmm” Not understanding the severity of what was going on, Kira shrugged, “No? Sorry was I supposed to be on the buddy system? My bad, maybe next time don’t go into another room where I can’t see you. The doors were shut, figured you just slipped out of the emergency exit” She leaned back to pull a chocolate bar out of her messenger bag, “Here this’ll make you feel better”

Trini huffed out an irritated sigh, taking the bar in question and sitting down, “This is dark chocolate, that’s nasty”

“Mmm but good for you” Kira rose a finger, “Doctors orders” She reached forward to push Trini’s nose in, further teasing her, annoying her. “Dark chocolate is like the PG version of a glass of red wine every night, good for the heart. Lotta iron”

_ “Iron”  _ As in, good for sudden blood loss. Trini broke off the top corner of the chocolate bar, better safe than sorry. 

“Is there an echo in here?”

“Where’d you get this?”

“The…. _ vending machine?”  _ Kira tilted her head, “You’re wigging out. Look, clearly you  _ got home.  _ Did you  _ drink something?”  _

“No! I wasn’t…” Trini wasn’t drugged, she didn’t take a drink or have a snack. She wasn’t doing  _ any _ of the eating. “Do you know anything about a girl with a butterfly tramp stamp?”

“I wish! She sounds wild” Now wasn’t the time to discuss taste in women, Trini was trying to get to the bottom of who was at the bar. 

“Can you focus for two seconds?” A sigh, the dark chocolate wasn’t  _ so _ bad, she offered a piece to her friend as it was hers to begin with. “Vida, her name is Vida. Does she go here? She had a stamp on her hand like us”  _ Underage.  _ “She has a sister too”

“Look, I know everyone here and I  _ promise _ you there’s no one by the name of Vida. Maybe she goes to the public school” Kira suggested, pulling out her phone, “Do you need me to make a call?”

“You know someone at the public school?”

“...Yes...I know this place may seem like a fortress but we  _ are  _ allowed to  _ mingle _ with the locals. Even date them” She gasped, putting a hand to her chest. Being the new girl  _ sucked  _ of course any question Trini asked felt like an obvious answer two seconds later. 

Not caring about possibly getting her friend on the inside in trouble she made a phone call instead of texting, “This is just quicker” She whispered to Trini as the phone dialed, “He’s got a free period anyway” Kira explained, her voice picking up when the person she was calling answered. “Zack my man! I’ve got a question for you...is there a girl there named Vida? I don’t have a last name…”

“Short hair with pink streaks” Trini brought her hand up to signify the length to Kira. Though length didn’t matter, not a lot of girls put a wild color in their hair. 

“Pink hair...butterfly tattoo...yeah that’s what I said. Okay...well let me know what you find, okay. Talk to you later” Kira touched her screen and dropped her phone in favor of putting a piece of chocolate in her mouth, “Yeah he doesn’t know, agrees at the hotness though so you may have some competition” 

Trini wanted  _ answers _ and this was getting nowhere. “Kira  _ please,  _ I need you to focus...do you remember  _ anything _ at all about that door?”

“You know it  _ was _ weird. Kimberly and her posse had come into the bar ordering a huge share of appetizers, they must’ve had a hard practice because oof those girls were hungry. Twisted Moose has this thing called  _ meat candy.  _ It’s bacon wrapped baby hot dogs, yum. Right focus. It’s hard to miss Gia getting handsy with Emma...look, Emma’s not the type of girl to wanna bang in a  _ bathroom _ so they headed to the billiard room...I’m assuming for a private make out session. Those were the only doors in the place that close like that…”

“Kimberly and Mia were also there...what did they do?”

“...Y’know they did leave in a bit of a scurry” Kira shook her head, “I promise...I’m telling you everything I know…”

It wasn’t much, Trini supposed, but it was  _ something.  _

*****

When Trini returned to her bedroom she was tired from the day, even a bit lightheaded. Kira’s friend hadn’t gotten back to her yet. Really, the only person that could give her a straight answer was Kimberly...luckily she was actually  _ in _ their shared room, sitting on her bed and reading a book for Mrs. Udonna’s class. “Look, I’m tired, I’m irritated and I’m confused…” Trini dropped her bag and sat on her desk, she knew trying to talk to Kimberly was a  _ long shot _ but it was worth  _ trying.  _ “How did I get home last night?”

Kimberly barely acknowledged Trini, not with a glance, she didn’t even close her book to give her roommate the proper attention needed for a conversation. “What do you remember?”

“I remember some chick biting into my neck!” Trini forcefully undid her tie so she could pull down the collar of her shirt, “Then this morning I woke up, in my bed, without even a  _ mark.  _ That doesn’t just  _ happen”  _

“Sounds crazy”

“Yeah, it sure does. Doesn’t it?” Trini stepped forward and made a move to grab at the book, all she wanted was for Kimberly to  _ look at her.  _ Only Kimberly was a  _ lot _ stronger than she came off, no matter how hard Trini tugged at the thing, it barely budged. “You were there. I want answers”

Kimberly’s glare was harsh,  _ no one _ touched the princess of Hawthorne Academy’s things. “Off” She  _ commanded,  _ striking enough common sense in Trini to let go of Kimberly’s personal effects. “Don’t take that tone with me.”

Bullying, or trying to strong arm Kimberly clearly wasn’t the right tactic here. Trini sighed, relenting, “I’m frustrated, and I’m tired”

“I’m not your punching bag” Kimberly nodded her head toward the lofted bed on the other side of the room, “Take a nap, get your strength back up”

“...Will you tell me  _ something?”  _ Trini glanced down, “Look it’s my first week here, I don’t exactly have many friends...isn’t there some sort of like, unspoken thing...girls look out for girls?” She didn’t have her mother, or her family to fall back on. “Please”

At that, Kimberly reluctantly closed her book and set it on the end table beside her. “When Gia found you, you were pretty out of it. So we walked you home and got you to bed” She explained, “Look, I don’t like you, but I don’t want to see you in a ditch anytime soon” Kimberly jabbed, “Girls look out for girls”

“But what about the other girl who was with me?” Trini remembered there being an altercation of some sort...she could  _ hear _ the power in Gia’s voice. “Mm? The girl that bit me?”

“Bite you? That’s quite the imagination” Kimberly rose a brow, “There was nobody  _ with _ you Trini” 

Liar! Liar, liar pants on fire. What wasn’t Kimberly telling her? What was she trying to keep away?

“Then explain to me how I lost twenty bucks” The money! That’s right, she and Vida had a pool bet going. Trini pulled out her wallet from the desk to show Kimberly that her twenty dollars was in fact missing. 

“Must’ve been a cheap high, no wonder you got so messed up” Kimberly put a hand up, defending her statement, “Look. I’m not  _ judging you.  _ First time alone, away from home...fall back on bad habits…”

“You know  _ nothing _ about me” Trini bit back, her voice raising, now it was her turn to go on the offensive. 

Raising her voice to her roommate didn’t go over well, “Sure I do.” Kimberly got out of bed, standing, using her height to look  _ down _ on the girl she considered a pest, “I can smell the street trash off of you a mile away” Trini’s fist balled, was she trying to goad her now? “The audacity of the admissions department to saddle me up with you.” Kimberly’s eyes narrowed, “We’re not going to talk about this again, do you hear me? Clean up your act. I don’t want to get in trouble for _associating_ with the likes of you”

“I  _ wasn’t _ high”

“We’re done here. You got home just fine,  _ drop it _ Trini”

“I’m not a dog you can command Kim” Trini spat, she wasn’t going to let Kimberly talk down to her like she didn’t deserve to be in this room, to be at this  _ school.  _ June worked her ass off to get Trini here, “Is that what happened to your  _ last _ roommate? You talk to her like this too?”

Suddenly, forcibly, Kimberly grabbed Trini by the fabric of her dress shirt and pulled her near. Her voice low, threatening, dark. It made Trini instantly regret the low blow, “I’m going to say this once and  _ nicely.  _ We may have to  _ co-exist _ but if there’s one topic of conversation that I won’t tolerate it’s  _ her.”  _ Her throat rumbled, her chest rising and falling with heavy breathing, she was holding something back for Trini’s sake. Anger management classes would do this girl some good, no wonder she was captain of the field hockey team. “Got it?”

“Yeah…” Trini’s head bobbed up and down quickly, wanting Kimberly to let her go, “Sorry, that was a low blow” Clearly something had happened...something that was a bit of an open wound for the popular girl. A trigger that set her off the deep end. “...Thank you for getting me home last night”

Kimberly let go of Trini, turning away as if the altercation had never happened and picked up her book once more, “Just... _ be smarter.  _ Okay? I can't always be out there watching your back.”

“Right…” Still, the storm in Trini’s mind wasn’t settled, her stomach still felt weak. The awkward tension in the room was disrupted by Trini’s phone sounding off. If Kimberly didn’t look like she wanted to kill her before, the loud noise was only irritating the girl who wanted the peace and quiet to read. “I’m gonna…” She picked up her phone and walked out of their shared dorm room, it was Kira on the other line.

“You alone?”

“I’m working on it” Trini didn’t want Kimberly to hear her conversation. Piecing together her night was only getting harder, a piece of her wanted to return to the Twisted Moose to see if there were any clues there. Seeking solace in the staircase, Trini finally got the alone space she seeked, “What’s up?”

“So I may’ve been doing a little digging of my own, call it my  _ expert  _ intuition” Kira laughed, “Okay so I typed some shit into google and did a bit of a deep dive. Vida’s not exactly a  _ common name _ around these parts. Vida Rocca and Madison Rocca, they’re sisters...and judging by what you’ve told me...they're from Briarwood." A pause, Trini didn't know these parts, "That’s like a 20 minute drive from here”

“So they’re not locals of Silver Hills” They didn't go to SHHS.

“Well...see, that’s where this gets a little  _ sticky.  _ Madison and Vida died in 2006. I’m texting you a pic of my screen”

Trini pulled the phone away from her ear, her stomach dropped at the sight. The pink streaks, the early-mid 2000’s goth phase was a joke. This couldn’t be real, this….no. “That’s impossible. This was the girl from last night, her and her sister. This is  _ her,  _ Kira”

“How the  _ fuck  _ is that possible?”

Trini held the phone to her chest, what the actual  _ fuck?  _ “...I don’t know…”


	3. Looking for Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trini does some digging on her own...vampires being real...doesn't sound so far fetched in Silver Hills

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Thank you guys so much for your interest love and support for this fic...it's been really exciting to write in a new genre and creating a new world that's so different. <3 <3 <3

Trini couldn’t be in the room with Kimberly, not after their last altercation. She swore Kimberly was such a pain to live with, it was always like walking on eggshells with her. Instead she went up a couple of floors to 412 to spend time with the only girl who would give her the time of day, Kira. The aspiring musicians room felt more alive than Kimberly and Trini’s. On Kira’s side of the room there was an inspirational  _ love wins _ poster. While Trini had never  _ met _ the roommate, she could tell that she was well liked. Photos of family and friends covered her side of the room. 

Kira and Trini sat on Kira’s bed, huddled around her laptop to keep googling and searching for information on Vida and Madison Rocca, only to find much of the same. Two young girls, their lives taken before their time...a very sad day for a small town like Briarwood. “We’re getting nowhere”

“We got  _ somewhere”  _ Kira didn’t want to diminish their progress, or her discovery, “Are you even sure that this was them?”

“I  _ swear _ to God, that’s her” Trini tapped Kira’s screen, the owner frowning at the fingerprints her friend was sure to leave. “This might be crazy but...I’m thinking she’s a vampire”

“Or” Kira brought up a finger, “She’s a serial killer, pretending to  _ be _ Vida and has a very specific kink”

“...Madison was at the bar too”

“Fine, a  _ team _ of serial killers” Kira shrugged her shoulders,  _ “People _ are fucked up in the head now of days”

“You could be a serial killer and a vampire, I think those two go hand in hand”

“Only, and this is a  _ biggie... _ one is fictional and one is very real”

“I know what happened to me!” Trini was sick of people talking down on her, or worse trying to control the narrative. Kimberly was clearly holding back the truth, there was a  _ truth _ here and Trini was going to get to the bottom of it. “Kira this went  _ beyond... _ things are  _ weird _ here. I’m sure you’ve noticed that”

“Well…” She couldn’t argue with that, Kira had lived in Silver Hills and had gone to Hawthorne Academy for two years going on three. “There has been some stuff that...doesn’t add up” As an outsider it was easier to see, “So let’s say  _ hypothetically _ you were bit by a vampire...what does that mean?” Her voice softened, maybe the reality of their situation was finally setting in her mind, “What do we do?”

“I um…” Trini frowned, she...didn’t actually know.

The door opened and in came an African American girl with shoulder length curly hair. She seemed surprised to see that Kira had company over, but put herself together long enough to say, “Hey, what’s up?” 

“Oh! This is my roommate” Trini gathered that by the girl standing before them matching the photos from the wall. “Tanya, this is my buddy Trini she’s new here” Kira further went to explain, “They try to keep the creative kids together, Tanya’s in the music program too. She’s more R&B to my rock n’roll soul” Kira laughed, “The ebony to my ivory”

“Don’t be a dumbass…” Tanya humored them by pulling up a chair and taking a seat, “Are you liking it here so far?”

“Well…” Trini’s roommate was the definition of a cold hearted bitch, and there was the whole...getting bit by a stranger who hustled her out of her money. “It’s been a little rough to be honest”

“Yeah, get a load of this...Trini is Kimberly Hart’s new roomie”

_ “Oh”  _ Tanya’s expression said it all, confusion. She hesitantly asked, “How’s that going?”

“Not...great”

“Mmm well” Tanya shook her head, “Some people don’t play with others...can you transfer?”

“A part of me wants to” Trini admitted, “But wouldn’t that mean she wins? She can’t have everything she wants, I’m here, she’s gonna have to deal”

“I like you”

“Yeah she’s okay” Kira playfully elbowed Trini’s side, chuckling. 

*****

Trini needed more information, it  _ had _ to be this, there was no other way to explain what had happened to her. Even though she didn’t have a visible wound she felt weaker, tired. A computer was only going to get Trini so far in her little Rocca sister investigation. If they  _ were _ vampires, what then? What could  _ she _ do about it? A sense of responsibility rested in Trini’s gut, she didn’t want to be just a victim...these girls could  _ kill _ someone. Who would stop them otherwise? No one knew the truth...vampires, those were teen movies and novels,  _ fiction.  _ Who would take a vampire threat seriously?

With an esteemed library, there had to be  _ something _ Trini could find on the subject. As much as Kira was  _ humoring  _ Trini, a part of Trini was sure that she didn’t believe her, just along for the ride. “Where do we even start?” The dirty blonde asked, as the two were standing in the middle of the library. “...Fiction?”

Trini shook her head, “No, I want you to look up articles” Kira was the one who narrowed down that Vida and Madison were dead, “Connect some dots, see how many people died from mysterious bites or unexplained attacks?” Trini sighed, “Look up missing people...print out anything you can find”

“What’re you going to do?”

“Look in the history section?” Trini shrugged, really, she wasn’t sure what she was looking up; but she’d know when she’d come across it. 

Libraries at the school’s Trini had gone to in the past didn’t hold a candle to the collection Hawthorne Academy had built up over the years. Ha, it’d be easy to get lost in here for days, a bookworm’s heaven. She ran her fingers along the spines as she walked through, nothing caught her eye. Maybe this was a lost cause…

“Ms. Gomez, what brings you to my neck of the woods?” Ms. Morgan, Trini’s history teacher, had found herself a little stool to sit on. Currently she had a book open in her lap. So far Ms. Morgan was one of Trini’s favorite teacher’s here. She was certainly the youngest, freshest, and knew how to connect with her students in her lessons. With dark framed glasses and brown hair tied up in a ponytail...she was nice to look at, to say the least. “I haven’t assigned any report”

“I ah, am doing my own research actually” Trini rubbed the back of her neck, Ms. Morgan’s brows rose, surprised. Usually students take much initiative to  _ further _ teach themselves, let alone take advantage of the non-fiction section. “What do you know about vampires?”

Ms. Morgan tilted her head, was this supposed to be funny? “I think you’re in the wrong section”

“See, I don’t think I am” Great. Now she officially sounded crazy. To an  _ adult _ no less.

“Are you working on a story?” 

“Uhm... _ yes”  _ Trini lied, anything to save face, “For English class we have to make up a short story and I ah---I wanna do something that feels more authentic and gritty” 

“Mmm” Ms. Morgan closed her book and returned it it’s home on the shelf. “Perhaps you should think of those figures in history, there are tales that still to this day can never be explained” She motioned for Trini to follow her, was she humoring her? “Rasputin? The man that alluded death multiple times? Jack The Ripper...”

“You’re suggesting that  _ Jack the Ripper  _ was a vampire?”

“A  _ hypothesis”  _ The history teacher was going to encourage the newest student to the academy to  _ read,  _ to  _ learn.  _ “Life is  _ curious,  _ isn’t it Ms. Gomez?”

“...I’d like to say so…” She held out her hands so Ms. Morgan could hand her a couple of books. “Thanks for your help”

“If you never need any help, don’t be shy, you’re always welcome to come to my office hours. Good luck on your story”

Trini nodded her head, politely smiling, she had absolutely no intention of ever going to an office hours. Excusing herself from the history aisle, she found that Kira had saved them a table. The aspiring musician worked like a tornado with papers scattered about. It was alarming to see how many people had gone missing over the century. “Any luck?”

“Uh I think so” Trini sat the books down on the floor in favor of sorting through and organizing the papers into different piles. Dead. Missing. Deaths that checked out vs a mysterious death. The fun stuff. An article at the top caught Trini’s eye, a tall, blonde featured, “Hold on...this one was just from last year” Trini read out loud, “Hawthorne Academy sweetheart Victoria Hanson’s body was found by park rangers…” She trailed off, scanning the article, the girl was only sixteen and she was mauled by wild animals. “Oh my god”

Kira’s expression softened, this was one she wasn’t going to throw around a joke about, “Authorities said it was too brutal to be a dog attack” She pulled the article away from Trini, looking it over herself, “They think it was something bigger, like a bear…she was one who loved it out here, the parks...being out in nature”

“Who was she?” The article said she was a student here...but Trini didn’t see  _ anything _ about Victoria Hanson. No bench in her name, or mention of her  _ anywhere.  _ It was like the school erased her entire existence. 

“Tori? Ah she was great...didn’t come from much, was on scholarship. Everyone knew her, everyone  _ liked _ her. She’s your girl next door, tomboy...such a free spirit” Kira let out a sigh, a sad smile, “When she was alive, Kimberly wasn’t such a raging bitchmonster. She’d put her in her place” She set the article face down on the pile, “Her death hit her hard...she could never be the same after that, they were  _ best _ friends...”

Trini closed her eyes, it wasn’t hard to connect the dots, “Tori was Kimberly’s roommate, wasn’t she?” Their dorm room was bare, the way Kimberly’s hair could stand on end, how harshly she reacted to any sort of mention of the past...this hit her hard. Trini had always assumed that it was  _ bad, _ but she didn’t expect a  _ mauling.  _ “Jesus…”

“With all of this talk of  _ vampires _ and people disappearing...it’s kinda made me wonder...” Kira’s jaw squared, Tori was clearly someone that meant something to her as well. The dirty blonde ran a hand through her hair, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about it earlier...or  _ warn  _ you...talking about it isn’t exactly easy for me”

“Was she someone special to you?” Trini reached over, resting a hand on Kira’s knee. 

“She was my first…” Kira admitted, shocking Trini to hear that she was so deeply connected to the dead girl and in turn...had  _ some _ sort of connection to Kimberly. “I don’t want to get into it”

Right. Of course not. Trini started to gather the articles and shove them in her bag, this wasn’t something Kira needed to re-experience. Not out here in a public setting. “You know what, forget this, this is freaking crazy”

“What? I thought we were going to go all Buffy on this bitch’s ass?” Kira and Trini were both on the human side, short side, and not exactly the people you’d want on your team in a legitimate bar fight. “No? Was that reference too old for you?”

“Look this is like my 4th day here…” And already she felt like she was on a crazy roller coaster to the depths of hell, “Let’s do something  _ fun _ tonight” She was running on guilt, “Show me a place that she liked” If Trini was going to have to tolerate Kimberly, maybe learning more about her former roommate would help. ...Kira was still healing. 

*****

Kimberly watched from her bed as her roommate tried to figure out what to wear that night. Trini pulled out a bomber jacket and checked herself out in the mirror. This should be warm enough…

“Going somewhere?”

“Uh yeah” Trini turned her head to face her roommate, “Kira wanted to show me around, there’s this place in the woods she keeps talking about”

“You’re going into the woods?” For someone who didn’t want to know Trini, or like Trini, she certainly asked a lot of parental questions about her whereabouts. “With  _ Kira Ford?” _

“Is there an echo in here?” Trini shook her head, “Yeah Silver Hills is like, what? 75% trees? Why do you care?”

“I don’t.” The ice queen reached over for her phone, ignoring Trini’s presence in favor of texting, “It’s dangerous to be out in the woods at night”

“It’s dangerous to go out to bars but people still go” That wasn’t exactly a fair argument. Now that Trini understood the nature of Kimberly’s former roommate situation, she could see why Kimberly was so on end about it. “It’s dangerous to get in a car but we’ve got places to go...everything is dangerous”

Trini didn’t feel right asking...but her gut told her that Kimberly didn’t stop by the Twisted Moose for  _ her,  _ but to keep tabs on Kira…. 

“Did you want to come with?”

“I’ve got work to do” Kimberly shot down the invitation, “I want to make myself perfectly clear here---”

“Yeah yeah I know” Trini couldn’t help but roll her eyes, “We’re only sharing a space as roommates, we’re not friends, we’ll never  _ be _ friends” No, how could they be friends if Kimberly didn’t let herself have feelings. She lost one roommate, she wasn’t about to get attached to her replacement.

_ Replacement.  _ That’s how Trini must’ve looked to the other girl...that the school didn’t care about Tori Hanson’s memory and just hit a reset button.

“I’m glad you understand this little” Kimberly moved her hand along in a circle, “Arrangement” She brought her hands up to rest her phone on her chin, her eyes trained, careful on Trini, “How late are you staying out?”

“What? Why are you interrogating me? You’re not my  _ mom”  _ A June Gomez interrogation involved 20 questions and a  _ pee test.  _ Considering the arrest...June’s suspicions and accusations weren't exactly far off… 

“No. But I have  _ practice _ in the morning and I really don’t want my sleep to be interrupted because you’re out getting your jollies with  _ Kira”  _ She uttered the name with a bite.

“We’re just friends” Sure Kira was attractive, but the two were  _ too _ similar that dating wasn’t a great idea. “And right now she could  _ use _ a friend” And not to be boxed out by the other girls when she was at her lowest. Eating alone at lunch, she was mourning in her own way. “Have a good night Kim”

*****

Some fresh air could do a mind good. If she let herself, she could go down the rabbit hole on a path to learn about vampires or demons...the things that went bump in the night. Trini and Kira stood in front of the school until their ride, a beat up red pickup truck came along to take them. The driver, a dirty blonde boy in a jean jacket named Jason and his friend in the passenger seat, Zack, an Asian boy in a white t-shirt. These were Kira’s friends from the public school. A football quarterback who jacked up his leg in a prank gone wrong and a rebel boy who had a penchant for skipping school and sticking his head out of the window to feel the wind against his face. 

“Did you bring any good stuff?” Kira asked, she and Trini were the small girls so they had to sit in the back seat, sharing a spot with empty bags of chips and bags of fast food. 

“Ha! You know it” Zack popped his head back into the car so he could turn and face the two ladies in his company, he was thrilled to interact with someone  _ new.  _ “Soooo Trini, got a boyfriend back home?” Well, that didn’t take long.

His smile widened which prompted Kira to lean forward and put a finger up, “No, don’t even think about it”

Zack sighed dramatically, sitting back in his chair to use the headrest proper, “Kira you were supposed to be my lady on the inside…” 

Jason chuckled, shaking his head at his friends’ behavior, “You’ll get used to him” 

Trini missed being around guys, they were easy, straight forward...less drama. It was easier for her to gel with boys, be on the same wavelength with them. Girls, especially girls like Kimberly were confusing to Trini, tough to even  _ talk _ to...why’d they have to be so pretty? 

“Hate to disappoint, but I don’t play on your team” Trini leaned forward and patted Zack’s shoulder. She had only been with the two boys for a twenty minute car ride and yet she felt comfortable to give them shit. 

Jason parked the car in a dirt lot, they’d have to go into the woods by foot from here. Zack went to the truck’s bed and pulled out a black backpack filled with ‘supplies’. The boys led the way down the beaten path, the girls following ten paces behind. Trini had grown up in cities, buildings, and streets...she was used to pavement, and cement. Trees felt decorative in comparison to  _ here.  _ She was in awe at the tall trees, the rocks, being able to  _ hear _ the wildlife around them. 

“So where’re we going?” Trini asked, stepping over a tree root.

“Just a bit ahead,” Jason explained, pointing in front of him...the path continued, curving to start lowering in elevation.

“There’s this waterfall…” Kira started, resting her hands in her pockets, “It was Tori’s  _ favorite  _ place”

“The water underneath is deep enough to make the jump” Zack rested his hands behind his neck, the truck now further and further away, “She’d always one up me”

“She sounded really great…” Trini would never be able to fill the void that was left, not with this group of friends, and most certainly not with Kimberly. “I’m sorry that I never got a chance to meet her”

The days were getting shorter, by the time they reached their friend’s favorite place in Silver Hills, the sun was starting to go down. The sky a beautiful shade of gold and pink, reflecting in the biggest waterfall Trini had ever witnessed in person. Her jaw literally dropped as she stepped forward. Trini kneeled, putting her hands in the clear water. “It’s crazy to think a place like this exists”

Jason reached into the water next to Trini, pulling out a smooth stone, perfect for skipping, “Silver Hills doesn’t have much...but I wouldn’t trade  _ this _ for anything” 

Zack and Kira sat down on a flat rock, opening the backpack the two teenagers sorted through actual supplies and pulled out a six pack, and a small tin of brownies. “Just what the doctor ordered” 

“Yo, Trini you hungry?” Zack called for the new girl, pulling her attention back. “I made somethin’ special” Kira had already helped herself to a brownie. 

Trini turned, her brow raising, she knew  _ exactly _ what those were. The very thing that got her in trouble to begin with...but her mother wasn’t here anymore...these were her friends now. Why couldn’t she still be able to have some fun? Trini could’ve died a few days ago in a bar...fuck it. “Yeah, I’ll have one”  _ One.  _ One couldn’t hurt…

“Don’t worry” Jason reassured Trini with a small smile, “I’m DDing” Designated driver, he would stay clean to make sure these three got back home alright. 

Kira grabbed one of the bottles from the six pack, Jason and Zack were only able to get away with the cheapy shitty beer. “Pour one out for her…”

Zack uncapped a bottle with ease and poured out the contents next to him to honor their friend that couldn’t be with them. The three teenagers would go around telling their favorite stories to Trini. Kira would lament about their first dates at the coffee shop downtown. Jason remembered the days where she would take him to the recreation center to do hydraulic physical therapy on his leg. To Zack, she was like a sister to him...the girl would look out for him, make sure that he was eating right and going to high school. Since she died his junior year attendance had gone down significantly. He didn’t have the heart...and now with his mother so sick, he confessed to the group that he was planning on dropping out all together to get a job in town.

Trini could feel her mind relaxing as the brownie took it’s effect. A well needed mind numbing break from the tornado that had brewed in her head.  _ Vida. Vampires.  _ She knew that she had to do  _ something,  _ but what good could she really do? 

Once the sun went down, it got dark  _ fast.  _ Zack and Jason had packed flashlights so they wouldn’t have to rely on their cellphones to see. Time flew by as the threesome got lost in nostalgia. 

“Should we show her the cave?” Zack mused out loud, leaning back, looking up to the stars above them as if trying to channel what Tori would want to do in that instant. “Hanson  _ loved _ that cave”

“I don’t know, it’s already dark” Kira fiddled with a silver cross necklace, one that Trini distinctively remembered seeing around Tanya’s neck. Now that the idea that  _ vampires _ could be real, being out in the middle of the woods wasn’t as fun.

“What’s the cave?” Trini asked what seemed to be the most obvious question.

“Ah well the  _ official  _ name is Zebediah Ernest Oliver cavern” Jason started to explain, what a mouthful, “But locals don’t  _ call _ it that” He shrugged his shoulders, “Pretty sure that’s just the guy who found it. Out here we call it the Crystal Cave. It’s real pretty, especially at night”

“...Well...we can’t bring it up and  _ not _ go to it, now can we?” Trini nudged Kira, she felt safer in a group of people. “Just for a couple minutes? Then we can head back”

It was decided. Zack packed up his backpack and the four headed up the hill and across the bridge to the other side of the forest. Tomorrow, Trini would have to look into keeping an official map of Silver Hills wilderness. The curiosity for the unknown had been taking over her mind, each answered question just led to a  _ deeper _ mystery. Trini admittedly had never gone through a cave before, Hawthorne Academy was about new experiences. This was one to check off the list. 

At the sound of a twig snapping behind them, Kira was quick to make a sharp turn around. “What was that?”

“Probably a  _ squirrel”  _ Zack was all too nonchalant. “Maybe a deer...if it were something  _ dangerous _ it’d come after us by now”

“Dude, shut  _ up”  _ Jason frowned, “Not helping” He could see that his friend was already on edge.

“...Hey if this is too much we can go back” The woods was the last place Tori Hanson was seen  _ alive,  _ as someone who was close to her, Kira was on edge...though, that could’ve also been a side effect of the brownies she ate.

Kira took a moment to close her eyes and shake her head, “No, we’re almost there. The cave is really cool, you shouldn’t miss out” She exhaled, “I’m not this punk bitch”

Trini wasn’t sure what to  _ expect _ when it came to being in a cave. Obviously she had a  _ general _ concept through watching movies and shows, but never had experience with them in person. The opening to Crystal Cave was large, vast, welcoming. It was hard to make out in the dark with only just a flashlight, but by the outside it looked like it went  _ far,  _ deep into the cliffside. Definitely a must see for hikers and tourists alike. 

With it being so dark, Trini felt like it was Halloween, going through one of those homemade haunted houses. Were bats going to suddenly fly down on them from the stalagmites up above? Gah she hated bats, birds, anything that could swoop down on the small girl and bite her, or  _ worse,  _ poop on her. Jason and Zack seemed confident enough that everything was just fine, if anything they were excited to show Trini what was ahead. Kira had to reach out and catch Trini when the new girl stumbled on a rock, it was so damn hard to see that her feet were  _ guessing _ on a safe spot to land.

“You okay?"

“Are  _ you?”  _ Trini could see that Kira’s eyes were wide, her paranoia was creeping through. Zack on the other hand was pretty chill, as was Trini. If anything the brownies had relaxed her, and led her to agree to this little extra field trip. 

“Whoa, do you see  _ that?”  _ Zack pointed ahead, against the slate stone wall there was a hint of a green light. Someone else was here...someone using a flame to light their path only, “Fire’s not green”

“Yeah, yeah I’m seeing that too” Jason confirmed that Zack wasn’t just high and seeing things out of the ordinary. Orangey red, sure, that’s standard. Blue if it got super duper hot but green? Green fire didn’t just  _ happen.  _

“We should probably turn back” They weren’t  _ alone _ in this cave. Kira bit down on her bottom lip, they weren’t  _ prepared _ to fight vampires...if that’s what it even  _ was.  _

“It’s a  _ cave”  _ Zack stretched his arms up, “A popular cave at that. S’probably someone trying to take edgy instapics” #blairwitch. Out here in Silver Hills, it took a bit of creativity to try and gain followers. “We haven’t even seen the crystals yet, that’s the best part!”

The four teenagers continued their quest through the cave, Trini holding onto Kira’s arm, trying to put a brave face on for her...when really...she didn’t like the feeling of this. In the stark black of night they could hear something small padding their way towards them. Jason shone his flashlight into the eyes of a small, white, housecat. “Hey, buddy, you’re far from home” He tried to approach it but was stopped by Kira hitting his wrist, knocking the light away from the creature. “What?”

“You don’t know where it’s been!”

“It’s a cat!”

The cat's eyes  _ shone  _ a bright green _ ,  _ matching the dim glow of flames behind it on the wall. It let out a low guttural  _ ‘mrrroowwww’  _ as if warning it’s master. 

“Shhhh be a good kitty” Zack crouched forward putting a finger to his lips.

“Guys we need to get out of here!” Kira was just about at her limits, she pulled on the back of Jason’s shirt. 

“Someone’s here?” The cave echoed the sound of a woman, her voice scratchy, her tone irritated and angry. “Well are you waiting for, go!  _ Kill them!”  _ From deep in the cave, the others could hear two sets of feet hitting the ground, rushing their way. No time to stop and see if it was a joke, a prank.

_ Kill them.  _ They heard that right.

Shit! That was  _ definitely  _ their cue to get out of dodge. Why did the truck have to feel so far away? All they had to do was make it back to Jason’s truck. Zack pushed Jason to lead the two girls out of the cave. The ex-football player had a bum leg, he was going to be the biggest handicap in running away. Zack selflessly put himself last, if he needed to buy his friends more time, he was more than raring to protect his friends...even Trini who he had  _ just _ met a couple of hours ago. 

The four teenagers had a head start on whoever it was coming after them,  _ whatever  _ was coming after them. Jason’s flashlight wasn’t doing them much good, Kira yelled at him to turn it off all together so they wouldn’t see. Trini’s gut instinct told her that they only had a couple more seconds before they were really in trouble. “We have to hide” She motioned for them to find cover inside a hollowed out log. Kira had to cover her mouth to prevent herself from breathing too loudly...here they were sitting ducks.

“You smell that?” Vida’s voice rang out into the night, like sharks to chum in the water, these predators were out for blood.  _ “Fear”  _ Her laugh was dark, it made Trini  _ shake,  _ “Fear makes the blood taste better, wouldn’t you say?”

“Focus” Trini recognized the second voice as Madison Rocca, the other vampire chastised her sister. They were clearly hired help and had a  _ job _ to do. No biting for fun, they were hunters, and their prey were four teenagers. 

“You’re no fun”

Crunches in the leaves, they were getting closer...closer...this was it, this was where everything was going to end. Out in the middle of the woods like idiots…god, what was her  _ mom _ going to say if she couldn’t last boarding school for one  _ week?  _

Something with a bit of weight jumped onto the log, causing Zack to be the one to break their cover and yelp in surprise. With there being a small hole at the top of the log, Trini was able to get a good look. Four paws, dark as night black fur, it was too  _ big _ to be a  _ coyote  _ or a  _ wolf.  _ Piercing amber eyes. The dog bared it’s teeth defensively before letting out a  _ warning  _ bark. 

“Oh I’ve been  _ waiting _ for  _ you”  _ Vida seemed to  _ recognize _ the giant beast, but the dog wouldn’t move as if it instinctively knew there was something to protect.

“What the hell is happening?” Jason whispered, only to get shushed by the two girls in the log. 

It wasn’t long before three more large dogs jumped over the log to confront the two vampires. Trini couldn’t  _ see _ anything from the angle she was at, the only sight she was privy to was the dog on top of them. She could hear the snapping of the animal’s jaws as the two vampires did their best to punch, kick, and choke them out. By the sound of the loud thud, it was one of the wolves that was thrown into a tree, a yelp of pain. Yet still, the dog on top of the log wouldn’t budge. As if knowing it was being watched, amber eyes locked down onto Trini’s. There was an intensity that Trini  _ felt _ but at the same time there was a warmth, a familiarity…

Which said a lot. Trini wasn’t a dog person by any means. 

The scuffle continued violently near them, swears from Vida. Three dogs, two vampires...Trini wasn’t sure who had the edge, but she knew if the one protecting them got involved the vampires would be severely outnumbered. 

“Madison! Oh you’re going to pay for that you  _ bitch-”  _

Nothing. Silence that was cut by the sound of a crow cawing into the night as it flew overhead. 

The wolf on top of the log removed itself, giving Trini the view of the night sky back. Was it over? The beast walked around the perimeter of the log ducking it’s head on the opening closest to Kira and Trini, the aspiring musician acted out in fear, kicking her leg out to try and hit it in the snout, only for the dog to move out of the way, irritated.

“You’re okay” A female voice came to the other side of log, ducking down, “They’re gone” A young blonde girl offered a hand for Jason to be the first one to take.

“...You’re Lauren Shiba…” Trini recognized her from her classes, the girl who would sit in the back corner of the room. The one who had a reputation for being  _ weird.  _ Three guesses as to why. One after another teenager came out, trusting the girl in a red hoodie, with a quiver on back, a bow in her hand, a sword at her right side, a brown leather satchel attached to her hip. “You a big fan of Renaissance Fairs?” She joked, Lauren looked like she was  _ prepared _ for medieval combat.

“Something like that” After helping the last of the teeangers, Lauren went to direct her attention to the wolf, “Whoever was in that cave is gone now, the others are investigating...we won’t have to worry about the  _ Rocca Sisters _ again” The dog merely tilted it’s head, “I’ll take care of this”

“Hold on! Hold UP” Kira was fed up, at her wits end, she poked Lauren’s chest, “You’re going to explain to me what the  _ hell _ is going on around here!”

“I can’t do that” Lauren reached for the leather pouch at her side, pouring what looked like purple sand into the palm of her hand.  _ “Forget”  _ She blew the sand out toward the direction of the four teeangers...and suddenly...everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We'll do some world building next chapter ;)


	4. ...The Night Continues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the potential of a new threat in Silver Hills...Kimberly has to cover her bases

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is going to be a little different...we're going to see somethings from Kimberly's point of view :)

“Lauren’s going to get them home just fine” Mia assured, pulling herself away from watching out the window. “If anything she’ll be excited to drive a truck, we’re doing her a favor” 

The four girls took solace in a cabin in the woods, one that belonged to Professor Leanbow and his wife Udonna. The place itself was quaint, log walls, bookshelves, a fire place in the center of the room. It was their cozy summer getaway to break away from Hawthorne Academy. What the teachers didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them. It gave them a place for shelter, a place to regroup, and most importantly...a place to put clothes on after transforming. 

Kimberly sat at the kitchen table, still silent, her hand supporting her chin. Emma sat across from her, Gia tending to her head with an ice pack, watching over her girlfriend carefully. 

“It’s okay Kim” Mia approached the three other girls, trying to reassure them with a smile, “They’ll get home safe, their memories wiped...just like last time”

Kimberly’s jaw squared, her eyes narrowed at her close friend, “The dust isn’t as strong as we’re hoping if Trini is putting herself in trouble for a  _ second _ time. She’s asking questions, too many questions” She didn’t like it, she didn’t like it at all. Why did Headmaster Zordon even  _ facilitate  _ this? Kimberly couldn’t through this again, “Having a roommate is something for normal girls, she should have a  _ normal _ life. Anyone connected to me has suffer” Trini didn’t deserve that.

“I’m _ fine” _ Emma’s eyes softened, “It was just a tree” It was she who was slammed up against the tree, the sharp bark broke her skin. “I’ll be healed by morning”

“I’d call this a win. Vida’s always had a grudge against you...now she’s poof.” A confident Gia tilted her head, her grin widening, anything to tease Kimberly, “You’re welcome” Anything to get her out of her head. 

“They were clearly working for someone” Kimberly sighed, resting her head back, “Stupid for me to think I’d have an easy junior year. It’s always  _ something _ in Silver Hills” 

“Whoever it is, it’s someone new” Gia sat down on the chair next to her girlfriend, taking Emma’s hand in hers, “That cave is  _ empty,  _ there’s no power coin in there”

“What’re we thinking it is?” Emma asked, feeling this was more of a military meeting than a gathering of close friends. “Hunters don’t hire vampire muscle.”

“Someone who thinks vampire’s are beneath them” Gia didn’t seem too impressed with their undead enemies. “Ha, which could mean  _ anything” _ The blonde didn’t think very highly of vampires as a species, bottom feeders.

Mia folded her arms, “So what do we do? Wait for them to make a move? That feels risky too”

“We don’t  _ know _ what we’re dealing with...anyone could be after the remaining power coins. That's the problem” That and not  _ knowing _ the location of them all, what they were capable of. Kimberly rubbed her forehead, as the leader, she was the one that had to make the calls and pray she doesn’t get one of her own killed, “For now we lay low...do some walkabouts…in  _ pairs” _

The blonde couldn’t help but ask, “What about Trini?”

“I’ll…” A deflated sigh, “...figure something out” 

*****

Lauren did as instructed, drove the teenagers home and in the stealthiest way possible got them into bed as if nothing happened. Kimberly was thankful for their ally, a human who could talk for them, one that she has trusted with not only her life...but Mia’s as well. 

Kimberly stepped closer to Trini, resting a hand on her forehead, she was in a deep sleep...the memory powder taking it’s effect. She hoped the entire night would be a wash, that Trini would wake up and life would still be normal...oblivious to all of the dangers in Silver Hills. No more questions, no more dangerous nights out in the vast forests. Kimberly couldn’t always be around to protect her…

It was hard to see someone habituating the other side of the room, sleeping in what used to be her bed. Kimberly did everything she could to try and scrub the memories of Tori Hanson out of this small space. No more pictures. No more posters. No more ocean scented lotions. The overwhelming guilt at her death still tugged at her stomach and made her sick. One day she was here, laughing with her, talking about Kira...the next…

Her life shouldn’t have ended so early. Especially the way it happened…

Kimberly felt bad for Trini, that things  _ had _ to be this way. It was for her safety, she’d rather her roommate hate her than to wind up dead...or  _ worse.  _ Outside of her ear grating taste in music, the other girl wasn’t  _ awful.  _ There was an energy about her that Kimberly was drawn to, she wanted to get to know her...find our her life story, how the hell she ended up in a place like this, but she couldn’t. 

A knock on the door snapped Kimberly’s attention away from her slumbering roommate. One sniff of the air...teakwood. Tanya Sloan sure loved those wall plug ins. It helped mask the scents of her  _ hobby.  _

Kimberly opened the door and motioned for Tanya to follow her into the common room, the hallways weren’t safe to talk. Not at this hour. 

“You wanna tell me what the hell is happening?” Tanya hissed, “I got Lauren comin’ at my door with a KO’d Kira in her arms. What if I had company? How the hell am I supposed to explain that?”

“Did you have company?”

“Not the point, Kimberly. It’s hard enough keeping things under wraps” Tanya sighed, finding a seat on the couch, “Is everyone okay?”

Kimberly chose not to sit with her, instead she paced around, restless, anxious. As a leader every choice she made wasn’t about her but other lives as well. “Emma got a little beat up, but okay” She shook her head, “Your last dose of memory powder wasn’t good enough, Trini’s been asking questions...she’s getting Kira involved again”

“I’m sorry that magic isn’t exactly a science” Tanya narrowed her eyes, the memory powder worked strongly on Kira. Trini shouldn’t have even remembered going to that bar that night and yet she remembers Vida’s fangs sinking into her neck, “Maybe Trini didn’t have enough, had a natural resistance to it…something” She listed off possibilities before coming to a sound conclusion, “You need more, don’t you? I don’t feel right messing with people’s minds...why do you keep pushing Kira further and further in the dark? She was your friend too”

“You’re going to do what I tell you. No questioning me” Kimberly bit back, pointing a finger at the young witch, “That’s the deal. I protect you, you do me favors. This is a two way street”

“You’re starting to sound like a mafia boss”

“Isn’t that what this is?” Kimberly raised her hands, exasperated by the whole situation, “I didn’t  _ ask _ to be an alpha... _ the _ alpha. Remember? This was something that was  _ done _ to me. I’ve had to make it something of my own...for my girls...I’ve extended that courtesy to  _ you _ as well”

The other girl sighed, turning her head away from the werewolf, “I need supplies” Tanya folded her arms, “Lauren’s fresh out” 

“I wasn’t expecting to find  _ four _ in the woods.” Kimberly ran a hand through her hair, “How much?”

Tanya stood up, getting eye to eye with Kimberly, “A couple hundred, if I’m going  _ shopping _ I want to make use of a trip to Briarwood.” She wasn’t going to let a  _ dog _ intimidate her. At the end of the day Kimberly needed her expertise in the dark arts. Tanya stood her ground, opening her hand to the rich girl, she knew this girl carried the cash she needed. 

Kimberly’s teeth clenched, she pulled out a leather wallet from her back pocket, slowly counting out five one hundred dollar bills. To a Hart, money wasn’t hard to come by, she didn’t know what kinds of situations she would get into. Money talked. Money was power, a leverage chip in situations where she couldn’t transform into a wolf and tear out someone’s throat. Tanya wasn’t expecting  _ that _ much, as evident by her eyes going wide. “I want you to see if you can find anything on  Zebediah Ernest Oliver, consider the extra money a  _ tip  _ for your services”

Tanya appreciated being taken care of, even if Kimberly could be a pain in the ass to work with, “Do I even  _ want _ to know?”

“Something’s coming...I can  _ feel _ it in my bones” And it wasn’t a  _ good  _ feeling. “Cover your tracks”

“You know I always do” Tanya placed her fingers on a gold ring she was wearing, turning it, her image completely changed in front of Kimberly. Instead of a 5’5 black woman, she appeared on the outside as a young white man with brown hair, brown eyes...as average as could be if it weren’t for being in Tanya’s yellow silk nightgown. Blending in with the crowd, becoming the complete opposite of herself...a little glamor she called  _ Justin Stewart.  _ Magic did incredible things, with this fake persona Tanya could easily go to a liquor store and purchase alcohol legally. There was a reason she had a reputation for being awesome. Tanya was an expert in enchantments, she turned the ring again and she became herself once more, no one the wiser. 

*****

When Kimberly returned to the room she noticed Trini tossing and turning in her bed. The mind didn’t like being meddled with. “What am I going to do with you?” Her heart went out to her, truly it did, but this was for the best. 

Her roommate’s eyes shot open, the girl holding onto her chest as she gasped for air, trying to catch her breath. Trini’s sudden movement caused Kimberly to jump back, practically stumbling into her desk chair, cursing into the night.  _ “Shit”  _

Trini had to calm herself down, her hand going to her forehead as she regained her bearings slowly by surely, “It was just a dream” She shook her head, repeating, “It was just a dream” A mantra to calm herself down, telling herself that it wasn’t real. “God that felt so freaking real…” It took a moment to realize that there was someone else in the room. That she wasn’t in her bed at  _ home,  _ in a room she had all to her lonesome. “What’re you doing up?”

“I um” Kimberly motioned to the door behind her, “I had to pee” She lied, glancing down at the clock, 3 in the morning, ugh. Field Hockey practice was going to be rough later. “Are you okay?”

“You care?” 

“Enough” Kimberly crouched down to their mini fridge, offering Trini a bottle of water. “What was your dream about?”

“A dream? More like a nightmare” Trini offered a small smile, thankful for the small act of kindness. “...God, I  _ hate _ dogs...” 

“I take it you’re more of a cat person?” A question Kimberly asked, tilting her head to the side.

_ “Definitely”  _ Trini responded without a second thought. She uncapped the bottle of water, not realizing how offended Kimberly was. “It was awful…” She glanced up to Kimberly, “All I could hear were the screams...these dogs were tearing these women apart and I couldn’t  _ do _ anything but sit there”

“It was just a dream” Kimberly assured her with a sympathetic smile. If only she knew how true her dreams were, that the woman she felt bad for was the woman who treated her like an appetizer, “That’s all…” She thought for a moment, looking up to the ceiling, Trini’s pain was her fault. While she was still up, Kimberly went to her closet and pulled a pillow from the top shelf. The pillowcase still smelled of coconut...a warm summer day…

“Here, this’ll help you get back to sleep” She offered it to her roommate, the least she could do was quell her nightmares. Trini didn’t have to know that Tanya had enchanted the fabric to be the perfect sleep aid. Tori was always a restless sleeper… “It’s tempurpedic”

“Oh...okay, thanks” Trini gingerly took the pillow from the other girl, grateful that Kimberly didn’t react by snapping at her. “...I ah...appreciate it” 

“Yeah, well….” It wasn’t doing her former roommate any good, now was it? “...Don’t get used to it”

By morning things would return back to normal…at least for Trini’s sake, Kimberly hoped.


	5. Change of Scenery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In search of some answers, Trini makes a trip to the neighboring town of Brairwood.

Trini woke up the next morning, confused as to how she could have a nightmare and the best sleep she had ever gotten all wrapped up in the same night. Also, was she dreaming? Or was Kimberly actually  _ nice _ to her for a couple of seconds? No, the pillow she was given was real...she didn’t imagine the gesture. Ha, of course, Kimberly had already disappeared into the morning before Trini could properly thank her. 

Still, she couldn’t shake the dream...it felt  _ so _ real. 

After getting dressed, Trini made a beeline for the cafeteria, having enough time to get breakfast before her day truly started. The fresh face of Hawthorne Academy was disappointed to find that her best friend, Kira, was the type to  _ sleep in.  _ There was no sign of the aspiring singer anywhere, not even at her favorite table in the courtyard. All Trini wanted to do was retrace her steps...what the hell happened last night?

“You can sit here” A tall blonde with an Australian accent motioned for Trini to join her table. She could see that the new girl was a bit  _ lost _ in trying to find a place to sit. Well, a place to sit that didn’t make her automatically, socially, pathetic. “You’re in my history class with Ms. Morgan” Right, that’s where Trini recalled the beautiful blonde with stunning blue eyes, “Didi, right?”

“It’s  _ Trini _ actually” Trini corrected, she scanned the cafeteria one last time in hopes that Kira would pop her messy ass into the room...to no avail. 

“Kat” She introduced herself as Trini decided to sit down across from her. “For breakfast being the most essential meal of the day...all my other friends decided sleep was more important” Ha, there was a lot of that going around today.

“I’ve gotta ask...what’s your deal?” Trini thought that  _ she _ was making a far trip, with an accent like this, she had come from across the ocean. “Why are you in Silver Hills?”

“My parents wanted to send me to one of the best  _ boarding _ schools in the world” Kat stabbed a piece of sausage on her plate with a fork, “Well, my step-mother wasn’t keen on my father having a kid so…” Everyone Trini had come across were pretty open about  _ how _ or  _ why _ they were here. 

“Ouch”

“Don’t feel bad, I like it out here, less spiders” She joked, “Have you been adjusting to campus life well? Join any clubs? There’s a lot of great programs to get involved in”

Trini shook her head, “I was never really a  _ club _ type of person” Why bother with clubs if she was going to pack up and leave down the line? Guess that wasn’t much of a problem anymore now that she officially had a Silver Hills zip code.

“Can I give you a piece of advice?”

“Sure?” 

“Don’t get lost in the shuffle here” Kat’s eyes scanned the room, “Everyone should be  _ someone _ here” It was true, when she was talking to Kira it felt like if a person wasn’t involved in a school sponsored activity, they barely existed. Even a girl like Lauren Shiba was on the field hockey team.

“I wouldn’t even know what club to join” Trini didn’t know much about what the school had to offer. Most of her time was spent with Kira or in her room hoping that Kimberly wouldn’t be coming home any time soon. “I guess I could think about it” 

The cafeteria doors swung open and in walked Kimberly and her friends. Trini could feel the air in the room thin, all eyes were on their little clique. It was incredible how much power her roommate held. The four of them would walk through Hawthorne’s campus, in a line to take up an entire hallway, they didn’t budge for  _ anyone.  _ Girls knew to part like the red sea to allow Kimberly and her friends passage. Other students would straight up get out of the breakfast line to ensure them a spot at the front. Kimberly Hart walked around the school like she owned the damn place. 

With purple trays in hand, Trini was amazed to see how much these thin girls could put away and still look flawless. Field Hockey did Kimberly and Gia wonders. Trini could feel her new acquaintance tense up as the four girls headed their way. With a simple nod of Kimberly’s head, Gia was on the move. The blonde set her tray at the table Kat and Trini were sitting at, “You’re in our spot.”

“We were sitting here first, there’s plenty of other tables” The Australian did her best to stand her ground under Gia’s intimidating scrutiny. “You don’t own this space”

“Yeah, what’s the big deal?” Trini jumped in, she didn’t really  _ know _ Kat, but she wasn’t going to sit by and watch her get bullied out of something as stupid as a table. 

Gia ignored Trini’s existence all together and pressed forward, leaning in close to the other blonde. “Do we have a problem here?”

“No” Kat was quick to wise up, there were too many eyes and frankly she didn’t want to start her day on the other end of Gia’s fist. “I was just leaving” She swallowed hard, “I’ll see you in history Trini” It was in her best interest to let Kimberly’s clique have what they wanted. Kat picked up her tray and was quick to throw out it’s contents into the trash, leaving the cafeteria as quickly as possible. 

Seeing as Kat was one to leave, Trini stood up as well, figuring she wasn’t welcome at Kimberly’s  _ precious _ table.

“No you stay” Kimberly demanded, pointing a finger at Trini, to the chair she was just in. 

“Oh I’m sorry you can’t order me around like some mutt” Trini didn’t want to be a part of this...whatever it was.

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say, judging by the way Kimberly’s eyes twitched. Gia rested her hands on Trini’s shoulders, pushing her back down to a seated position with ease. Ow. These seats were  _ not _ super comfy, ugh, a great way to start the morning was with a sore butt.

Kimberly set her tray down from across Trini, Mia down to her left, Gia sat at her right with Emma scooting her chair to be as close to Gia as possible. Breakfast was a hard meal to sit in her girlfriend’s lap for, so the pair had to settle for holding hands. With it being a circular table, Trini had a couple of empty seats to the left and right of her. She felt uneasy, it was hard to eat herself, what with Kimberly  _ watching _ her every move. 

“Do I have something on my face?” Trini tilted her head to the side, her hands felt like they were shaking as she confronted her roommate. 

Kimberly’s brow arched, here with her friends she was untouchable, a  _ bitch,  _ “What did Kat Hillard want?” So that was the root of all of this spectacle. 

“Um to get to know the new kid? I don’t know,  _ be nice”  _ Outside of Kira, it wasn’t like Trini had made many friends around the school yet. “It sucks to eat alone?”

“It works just fine for Lauren Shiba” Mia’s tone scathed as she nodded her head in the direction behind Trini. Lauren Shiba didn’t fit the bill for a traditional Hawthorne Academy student. She was a bit of a quiet loner, one who had a reputation for being  _ weird _ preceded her. Lauren didn’t have any friends, people were too afraid to even try.

“Kat’s a gossip” Kimberly explained, “She saw you like a little sheep that lost its way. Did she ask about me?”

“You know, it’s funny, the world revolves around the  _ sun,  _ not you” Trini shot back, narrowing her eyes, this was ridiculous. So Kimberly was worried about Trini  _ talking about her?  _ What was there to say that the school didn’t know? That Kimberly was a pain in the ass to live with? That she would get so uberly territorial over  _ everything?  _ “There’s more to me than being  _ your _ roommate” 

“Oh yeah? Like what?” Emma asked, her eyes wide, genuine. Out of the quartet of Hart, she always came off as the sweetest, most approachable. 

“I uh…” Trini wasn’t expecting to be called out like that. “Lots of stuff” Kimberly and Gia exchanged a look, judging Trini for lack of a better answer. She had a lot of bark but no bite behind her tough girl attitude. Mia only shook her head, staying quiet as she ate.

Kat was right, if she wasn’t a part of something she was  _ nothing  _ to the girls on the outside. To Hawthorne Academy, all Trini’s identity boiled down to two things: the new girl, and Kimberly Hart’s roommate.  _ Shit.  _

*****

Throughout her morning classes, Trini couldn’t help but let her mind drift. Who was she? Everyone here seemed to have a title attached. She would only be the shiny and new girl for a little while before she’d fade into the background. Joining a club seemed like the most logical thing to do to reach out, try and make friends...what did she even like outside of music and avoiding her mom? It dawned on Trini that she didn’t know much about herself...and that bit scared her more than the idea of vampires looming around corners. 

“Trini, hey!” Kira had grabbed Trini’s arm in the hallway, having finally caught up to her. “You wanna take a little road trip today?”

The new girl studied her only friend well and she seemed...to be in a good mood, not dazed or confused at all. “What happened last night?” Trini lowered her voice, pulling Kira into the nearest bathroom for a semblance of privacy. “Do you remember anything?”

“Oh” She wasn’t expecting that kind of question, “We got high?” Kira didn’t seem to really care as today she woke in her bed, everything felt fine. “Powerful shit, I don’t even remember getting home last night”

“You don’t remember wolves or…or being in a log? You were freaking the fuck out” If anyone was feeling a rush of emotions, it was the aspiring singer.

“I think I’d remember seeing  _ wolves”  _ Kira frowned, her brows furrowing, she was really trying to recall anything from the night before, “Bad trip?”

Maybe...maybe it was all just a dream. With all of the thoughts of a vampire conspiracy, maybe this was all just in her head. “I don’t know” Trini felt defeated, like she was stuck. Every time she felt as if something  _ big _ had happened, others would tell her that it was all in her head. What if it was? Was Silver Hills slowly going to drive her bonkers?

The new girl stepped to the sink to splash water in her face. She felt Kira’s hand on her back, rubbing it in circles to try and comfort her. “I’ve got a call to do a job in Briarwood this weekend, and wanted to know if you wanna check out the place with me.”

“Briarwood?” Trini held on to the edges of the sink, her gaze fixed upon her reflection in the mirror, “...That’s where the Rocca sisters are from”

“Yeah, well.” Kira was a bit reluctant, “If you wanted to go vampire researching I figured...that would be the best spot to start” She glanced over her shoulder to see if there were any feet shown under the stalls. Kira already had a reputation for going off the deep end when Tori died, might as well add paranormal investigator to the list of quirks. 

“You don’t think I’m crazy?”

“Ah aren’t we all?” Kira shook her head, “Look, I don’t think Tori was killed by a  _ wild dog”  _ She sighed, glancing down, the stakes felt high for her as well. Proving if vampires were real was only the first step. “Now the boys’ll...they’ll think we’re crazy” Despite the subject matter, her lips tugged into a smirk, “But we can lose them pretty easily” She punctuated with a wink, “A change of scenery will do you some good”

*****

A change of scenery. 

A change of scenery she said.

Everything about the car ride over felt like one giant deja vu, right down to Kira scolding Zack for trying to hit on her new friend. Trini leaned up against the window and watched as trees upon trees passed by. The woods of Silver Hills were so vast that it felt like an endless sea. What secrets lied beyond the girls’ school? 

Trini couldn’t shake flashes of her nightmare from her mind, the sounds of wolves snarling into the night, a cat’s meow...women screaming in pain. It felt so real, had Tori’s obituary stuck in Trini’s mind that it was playing out these images? Worst case scenarios? Or was she turning into her mother? One to spiral nothing into something. It was in her nature to continue to ask questions, to press, to get to the bottom of things. She hoped that Briarwood could give her some peace of mind, if anything a distraction. 

The small New England town didn’t differ much from the strip of main street in Silver Hills. A little village where the day to day felt like it’d repeat until the end of time. People aren’t  _ tourists  _ to a place like Briarwood, they live here until they die of old age. A quaint town, a stock image for a postcard or the basis of a snow globe. There was nothing  _ special _ about Briarwood on the surface. 

The whole reason they were in town was for Kira to talk to the managers of a place called Rock Porium to discuss her next show. The place in itself felt pretty retro, a place where old fashioned records and memorabilia were sold on the top floor while their basement was used for live entertainment. Zack and Jason would rifle through vinyls, finding a cover they thought was fun, dirty, or downright strange to show each other and get a good kick out of it. A hipsters dream, a place untouched by time. 

“You ever think we should become a band?” Zack mused out loud, only for his best friend to laugh and shake his head. 

“With what talent?” Jason laughed, he knew damn well Zack didn’t have the patience to learn how to play a musical instrument. “What about you Trini?”

Trini shrugged, she didn’t think of herself as musically inclined. The most she’d outright sing used to be in the shower...but with that being more of a communal experience, she’d prefer keeping that part of her to herself. “This is Kira’s thing, I’m just here to support her” She looked up at the photos of the wall, pictures of Vida and Madison Rocca before they died...Vida was a musician too, one that frequented here. They had so much of a future ahead of them...it truly was a shame.

Kira returned having crossed all the t’s and dotted the i’s of her little contract agreement. “Thanks for coming with me for this…waiting out here...” She draped her arm around Trini’s shoulders, “If you boys want to stop at the jerky joint, Trini and I are gonna pop into the bookstore”

Zack’s nose scrunched up, the old bookstore paled in comparison to the excitement of hundreds of different combinations of meat and flavoring. Having a chance to  _ eat _ was really the big motivator to Zack tagging along this trip, “You girls do that”

“Meet out here then when we’re done?” There weren't enough hours in the day. With it being the fall, the sun would set on the earlier side and knowing these procrastinating teenagers...none of their homework was done for their next day. 

Boys went down the street one way, girls the other. Kira was right, it was easy to lose them in favor of their goal. Kira led Trini into a family owned bookstore, so old that the wooden panels of the second floor creaked when stepped on the right way. It paled in comparison to what the Hawthorne Academy library had to offer. Trini simply followed Kira, as she was new to the place. They weren’t interested in the children’s section, young adult, or the travel section today.

Up on the second floor were the more  _ adult _ books, non-fiction, textbooks, and yawnfest of literature. “Ready to earn another stripe as a certified lesbian? There’s a wiccan section” Kira couldn’t help but laugh as she pulled the curtain to this sectioned off part of the shop. An odd choice at all, to section it off. 

“It’s really only popular during Halloween” The musician lowered her voice upon seeing one other person in this area. A generic looking white guy in a purple hoodie had been sitting on a metal stool, his blue eyes glued to the book in his hand. Leather bound books lined these shelves, worn pages. Trini ran her fingers along them, they looked straight out of a renaissance fair. “They’re “spellbooks”.” She explained, “Stuff about ancient monsters and  _ demons  _ oooo”

Maybe, maybe there was some truth to these old books. “You think there’s any truth to them?” Trini whispered the question, or was this all some sort of cheap joke? It felt like a cheap joke to her. That was...until she saw the  _ price tag  _ was way out of their budget. Trini let Kira scale the walls in search of a book on vampires, she was drawn to the center of the room where a crystal ball display was. 

“Ah you know New England, the witch trials were sort of a big deal y’know” Kira pulled out a book, took one look at the imagery and put it back on the shelf. That monster had way too many dicks for her eyes, there was a reason the black curtain separated  _ this _ section from the rest. “Obviously morseo in  _ Massachusetts  _ than in  _ Maine _ but hey. Pilgrim’s were wild, man” 

“Mmm” Trini doubted there’d be much tourism out in these parts, certainly not witch enthusiasts. Still, she was drawn to the crystal in front of her, going so far as to hold it in her hand. What she expected was an average paperweight, one that was for an aesthetic, only for the crystal to suddenly get cloudy in her grasp. A trick. It had to be some sort of motion censored trick. 

Intense amber eyes started back at her. Trini felt the hair of her arms raise pin straight, her hand twitched, dropping the crystal ball all together. A blink, and it had all disappeared. 

“Hookay butterfingers” Kira bent down to pick up the ball and return it to it’s proper place. She could tell Trini was spooked without any inkling to why. It was just a clear ball. “Too much coffee” She apologetically explained to the man, who had to look up when he heard the dull sound of carpet absorbing the fall. “So sorry”

“I wanna get out of here” Trini rubbed her forehead, trying to calm herself from the jitters taking over her body. 

“Sure, sure whatever you want” Kira smiled apologetically to the stranger once more, hurrying Trini out of the store without a second thought. With the clock striking 7, the main street of Briarwood had become more crowded. People were out of work, at dinner, enjoying being outside in the crisp evening. Trini didn’t need to be feeling crowded if she was being spooked. 

“What the hell Trini? Are you okay?”

“I just...got this weird vibe, I don’t know how to explain it” Trini didn’t know where they were wandering too, just following a path that led into a quieter part of town. Cobblestones led to an open area, the cemetery. “....Shit” Well, this wasn’t exactly what the doctor had ordered when Trini wanted some peace and quiet.

“Let’s see if we can find them” Kira urged Trini on, “The Rocca Sisters” She reached into her messenger bag and pulled out one of the leather bound books from the store, “I got some reading material”

“You  _ stole  _ that?” Stealing from a bookstore had to bring them  _ so _ much bad luck. Kira licked her lips, proud of herself for doing a little shoplifting. 

“I’ll take it back!” Kira trailed off, avoiding the scrutiny of Trini’s judgement, “....When I’m done with it” 

“Why didn’t you just take screenshots of pages like a  _ normal _ person?” Trini hissed as the two stepped their way into the cemetery, so much for trying to start a clean slate. 

“I didn’t get a chance to when you freaked the hell out, good cover by the way” Kira added with a playful nudge, “Oh it’s just  _ one _ book, I didn’t kill anyone, calm your tits” She glanced down to the ground, frowning, “Smells fresh, the dirt”

“I’m not really a  _ dirt _ expert” Trini didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. She wasn’t a small town kid that had to resort to getting a high in a cemetery or a forest. In fact, cemeteries weren't a thing she visited often, not even for her own family. “What’s the book say about vampires?”

“Ah yes, creatures of the night” Kira stood her ground, flipping through the pages, “Sucking blood yadda yadda yadda” She paraphrased much to Trini’s irritation, “Oh,  _ oh _ according to this they can walk around during the daylight...they’re just weaker... _ don’t like that.  _ Nothin’ on sparkling so that must’ve been Hollywood jazzing it up and putting a wooden stake through the genre” Kira could hear Trini’s aggravated sigh, “Let me have some fun, this is my neck on the line...not yours” A pause, “That phrase has a whole new meaning doesn’t it?”

“How do we  _ kill _ one? If Vida and Madison are still out there we have to do  _ something…”  _ Trini was already a victim, if people had been dying for over ten years...it had to stop somewhere. 

“So garlic no, holy water only burns so...unless they’re in a pool of it...probably not the  _ best _ method. Crosses are a good defense but not a kill, okay...there’s wooden stake through the heart, fire, decapitation” A pause, Kira gave Trini the most deadpan expression she had ever seen out of the musician, “Well duh, you cut the head off of anything and it’s dead!”

Kira closed the book with a loud thump, “This is dabbling in some pretty heavy shit...are you  _ sure?”  _

_ “Positive”  _

A black crow flew over the girls, cawing loudly. Kira naturally looked up at it, her head tilted to the side, “We’re too far north” She mumbled, Trini had a bad feeling sinking into her gut.

Fog started to roll in from the forest, shrouding the area in a cool mist. If Trini squinted enough she could see fire dancing between the trees. She held onto Kira’s arm, keeping her best friend beside her as she moved forward. The normally chatty musician had the common sense to keep her mouth shut, or at least to not ask any sort of  _ questions _ to what the hell they were doing. 

It took a bit of careful stepping until the two felt like they were getting anywhere. Up ahead the two girls could hear some sort of  _ scuffle,  _ a fight. Trini and Kira couldn’t believe their eyes as they witnessed four animated rock golems fighting a blonde girl among the trees. The fire Trini saw from a distance wasn’t from a torch, but a samurai sword that the girl was holding. The blonde gracefully dodged a large fist coming down, she then rolled along it’s back to bring her flaming blade onto another golem clean cutting it’s head off and making it crumble into dust. 

Swords don't cut through stone...not like that. What an incredible sight. Trini and Kira were frozen, watching in awe...confusion...like deer in headlights. 

Three rock golems were left, in the fray, their movements strong, powerful...but  _ slow.  _ The mysterious blonde was able to stab her sword into the ground as a holding place in favor of grabbing one’s wrist and with incredible, inhuman strength was able to lift it off the ground and slam it into an oncoming second one. The third one was still making an approach, the blonde made a front flip to grab her sword, activating it’s flames to slice it’s arm clear off. 

What were they  _ seeing _ before them?

“...Is that...Lauren Shiba?” The misfit of Hawthorne Academy? A lone wolf type personality that kept to herself and had the rumor of being  _ strange.  _ Kira urged Trini to get closer for them to see the fight. There were no more doubts in Trini’s mind after seeing the rock creatures...monsters were  _ real.  _ “Oh I’ve gotta see this” Trini had to pull Kira’s arm to keep her from going  _ too _ far. 

Like an action hero Lauren did a spin strike to slice the midsections of each of the beasts, making them all fall back and crumble, then sheathing the sword in one fluid motion.

“I am  _ so _ turned on right now”

Trini shook her head at Kira’s little commentary before noticing a black figure coming through the fog. “Lauren, look out!” Trini gave away their hiding location, but with Lauren taking a breath from her battle she may not have recognized the threat coming from behind. 

The image of the black figure was getting clearer the closer it came. A dog, no... a  _ wolf?  _ Wolves weren’t that big. Oh god,  _ oh god.  _ The beast jumped over Lauren with ease, it came running at incredible speed in the direction of the two Hawthorne Academy girls. Trini and Kira barely had a chance to  _ scream _ let alone try and run away when the gargantuan beast lunged and pinned Trini to the ground.

“Trini!”

Trini’s head hit the ground, memories flashing in her mind of bright amber eyes in the dark, but no, the eyes on this dog were  _ dark brown _ almost  _ black _ at night. The wolf bared it’s teeth growling, leaning forward into Trini’s face. The teenage girl was pinned beneath the beast, unable to try and struggle free from it. Never before had Trini felt so helpless.

“Hey!” With one big swing, Kira hit the dog with her messenger bag to attempt to bat it off of her new friend, only for the beast to barely budge, “Shit, shit, shit! A little help Shiba!” Only there wasn’t a sign of their classmate anywhere.

The wolf kept heavy paws on Trini’s shoulders, turning it’s head slowly in Kira’s direction. In a panic, the musician reached into her bag and pulled out a small canister of pepper spray, using it to shoot into the beast's eyes. The wolf cried out in pain, clenching and unclenching it’s eyes, shaking it’s head vigorously to try and find an  _ ounce _ of relief. 

Taking advantage of the moment of a stumbling dog, Kira was quick to grab Trini and pull her friend up. It was up to her to lead her friend out of the woods and back to the town. Tears, remnants from the pepper spray affected Trini’s vision as well. Hoping that the wolf didn’t recover quickly, all they could do was  _ run,  _ have faith and cuss like a sailor.

When the two girls hit the cemetery they realized that they weren’t being followed, still, they needed to get the  _ hell _ out of Briarwood. Jason’s bright red busted up truck was a sign of hope, the two girls didn’t even let the boys ask where they had been this whole time, only to get in the car-shut up and  _ drive.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No chance for memory dust here... :D


	6. Damage Control

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kimberly has to make a major choice upon learning that Trini's been exposed to too much

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a little on the shorter side, but it's another Kimberly's point of view.
> 
> Special extreme shout out to TaikoTurtle! Omg she is incredible go follow, support, check out her blog! She's made a couple of edits for Silver Hills (the werewolf crew) and my god they're incredible
> 
> [Kimberly](https://taikoturtle.tumblr.com/post/620011971587260416/go-read-silver-hills-by-unicornaffair-i-love-me-a)
> 
> [Giemma](https://taikoturtle.tumblr.com/post/620325365912649730/emma-gia-from-unicornaffairs-power-rangers)
> 
> [Lauren/Mia](https://taikoturtle.tumblr.com/post/620691696091578368/lauren-shiba-mia-watanabe-from-unicornaffair-s)

Kimberly’s stomach dropped the moment she received Lauren’s text message. What the  _ hell _ happened in Briarwood? Her fingers clenched, tightened as the anger rose in her chest. The wolf inside her was getting restless, it took everything in her power to stay in control...to  _ not  _ transform in her dorm room. Instead she took her frustration out on her desk, grabbing her mug of pens and chucking it haphazardly at Trini’s side of the room. Damn it! Damn it. She couldn’t go through this again!

Deep breaths. She had to  _ think  _ and act, not lash out and destroy her own property. A shame too, she liked the mug. It was cute and pink. A reminder of who she used to be before she became a  _ monster.  _

Knowing that her roommate was still on the road, this was her time to slip out without a confrontation. Kimberly didn’t know what to expect, she didn’t get the whole story of what happened...all she understood from Lauren’s messages was that Trini got away before she could use Tanya’s memory dust. She knows more than she should. Kimberly was irritated enough at the situation, she didn’t need a questioning roommate to badger her. No, that wouldn’t end well for Trini.

Kimberly slung a black, nondescript, backpack on, before heading out of the dorm room...waiting until she was far enough off property. In the dark with the tree cover, she felt far enough away. Kimberly took off her clothes and hid them away in her bag, storing it in a nearby tree for safe keeping. With all of this pent up aggression towards her current jam, the shift from human to wolf felt like a sweet release. As a wolf she felt the rush of power, she could run through the forest to get to Briarwood and meet up with a member of her pack. 

Silver Hills, this was Kimberly’s territory, a mystical mysterious place where creatures that went bump in the night. Gaining control of these lands was no easy feat, and some were lost along the way. Kimberly shouldered the responsibility of keeping humans in the light, of keeping them  _ safe _ from being preyed upon like snacks. For Tori, she reminded herself. Do it for her.

When she arrived in the thick woods of Briarwood she was able to sniff out one of her own.  _ Mia.  _ Her third in ranking sat on a tree stump, covered in a black silk robe, her head tilted up to the night sky as her lover Lauren stood by her side, comforting her as well as she could. “What happened?” Kimberly all but snarled, transforming back into her human state. Lauren instantly ducked her head, unable to look at the alpha of the pack. Out of respect, she removed her red hoodie to give  _ something _ for Kimberly to cover herself up with.

This was supposed to be an  _ easy _ assignment. She tasked Mia and Lauren to follow Tanya to the nearby town, make sure she stayed on track...and keep her safe if something were to happen.

“I didn’t  _ know _ it was her” When Mia tilted her head down, Kimberly could see the irritating red of her eyes. The poor girl’s cheeks were tear stained from trying to sooth the pain naturally. “Not until it was too late, I’m sorry” She brought a hand up to her eyes, her eyes clenching tightly shut. Mia would be fine, their bodies healed at a quicker rate...she just had to wait it out. “There was so much fog”

“Why?” Kimberly looked to Lauren, the last of the Shiba clan. “You, you’re going to tell me what went wrong”

Lauren nodded her head, taking in a deep breath, “We stayed in the woods, keeping a  _ low profile”  _ If anyone knew how to stay out of sight it was Lauren. Vanquishing monsters and defending humanity was in her blood, she had come from a long line of hunters. The defender of the red power coin, an item that gave the hunter extraordinary physical strength, reflexes and speed to keep up with the level of a demon. The flaming katana was a gift from a Japanese enchantress that had been passed down the line of Shibas. It put a target on her back to say the least. 

“There was a cloaked woman in the graveyard...the one from the caves. She was stealing from one of the graves...bones, a ring, I’m not sure what she was after but I couldn’t stop her. Whoever she was, she was  _ powerful.  _ She could summon monsters of the earth. I had to take the fight into the woods, I couldn’t risk being seen”

“Only you  _ were”  _ There was a sharpness in Kimberly’s tone, one that struck shame in the blonde, so much so that she ducked her head down. Failure was taken to heart. 

“Apparently” Lauren swallowed hard, “Don’t blame Mia for this...I should’ve been more cautious”

Kimberly glanced past the hunter to Mia, her expression softening, it wasn’t  _ fun _ to see one of her own in so much pain. “So we’re dealing with a sorceress.” Kimberly only knew so much about  _ magic.  _ Demon hunting, fine, vampires? Kimberly was more than  _ happy _ to take them out of the equation. Witches and sorceresses, magic of any kind added a whole new element. Mind tricks, nothing was straight forward. “...Did she do this to you?”

“No” The werewolf gritted her teeth, unsure if she was angrier at  _ herself _ or at the punk rocker “Kira Ford did this to me” Mia sighed, “I was  _ maced”  _

“Ah, well, you have to hand it to her...that’s a new one” Kimberly stepped over to her friend, resting her hands on the sides of her face, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. “You’re going to be okay”

The other wolf was hesitant at the display of affection, “...You’re not mad?”

“I’m furious” Kimberly let go, licking her teeth inside her mouth, giving her a couple of seconds before speaking again. “Ever since Trini arrived here she’s been  _ nothing _ but trouble” Her roommate needed a freaking hobby, one that didn’t involve putting herself in danger. First Vida, the cave, and now Briarwood? That was three strikes too many. 

“What’re you going to do?” Lauren asked, folding her arms, now that Kimberly was wearing her hoodie she was starting to feel cold in a simple Hawthorne Academy field hockey t-shirt. 

“Damage control” Kimberly turned her head to the graveyard behind her, “Do whatever inspection you need to, find out what was taken” As the leader she could pass the buck of grunt research work onto someone else. She had other things to worry about, “Get her home”

They could talk about this more later. The night was young, and Kimberly needed more answers.

*****

“You know I’ve got an algebra test first thing in the morning” Tanya held her cellphone to light up the path as she and a werewolf Kimberly walked through the forest, heading to the cave where the sorceress was first seen. “So this little field trip, not appreciated”

The wolf snorted, and Tanya could feel Kimberly’s attitude seeping through the expression on the dog’s face...an eye roll. Really, mature Kim. The wolf rolled her eyes at the witch. Once they got to their destination, Tanya took the backpack off so she could place it at Kimberly’s feet. The werewolf was going to need something to change into, worrying about clothes was always a tedious afterthought for this pack of girls. 

“You wanna tell me why we’re out snooping around? It’s fucking three in the morning Kim” Like it mattered. Tanya confirmed that Trini and Kira were so spooked by seeing a big ass werewolf dog that the two were sleeping in Kira’s bed for the night to process. Tanya had to slip out quietly to even meet up with Kimberly. 

“You and I both know I don’t have a lot of time” Trini saw too much. She saw the wolves, she saw Lauren with a  _ fire sword.  _ “What did you find about this cave?”

“Nothing too exciting about the  _ cave _ but...the man…?” The two of them started walking into the cave, Tanya’s fingers tracing along the walls, “Zebediah. Ernest. Oliver. He’s the creator of the ZEO crystal. Legend has it that it has the powers to raise the dead”

“We’re talking zombies now?” Kimberly sighed, “If there’s one thing I don’t want to deal with, it’s a  _ pandemic”  _

“No, we’re not talking walking mindless dead here…” Tanya really meant bringing someone back from the otherside, their mind and soul completely intact. “I’m also talking about eternal life, immortality”

“There’s nothing in this cave” Kimberly knew the Silver Hills forest like the back of her hand, this was her turf, her territory. Even before the blood bath… “We’ve checked this place multiple times, it’s a tourist trap.”

“Not everything is what meets the eye” Tanya was an expert with glamor spells, she knew all about deceiving others. “Besides, the books I found were centuries old. Even if the ZEO crystal  _ was _ here, who’s to say someone hasn’t taken it?”

Kimberly had to start rubbing her temples, first she had to worry about who was in possession of the other power coins and now there was the potential of the ZEO crystal being put into play. The alpha of the wolfpack was itching to release some energy...she felt the aggression, the need to take her frustrations out in a fight...a hunt...deer did sound good right about now. 

“She’s not going to stop searching now that she knows…” Tanya brought her back to this planet with a harsh dosing of reality, “Trini. She was at the bookstore and there was this moment... _ I  _ felt something” As an illusion of a man, she had watched Trini and Kira fumble around spell books like high schoolers up to no good. “There’s something about her that I can’t place my finger on...an aura about her”

“What do you mean?”

Tanya tutted her head side to side, contemplating if she wanted to put anything else on the worn thin werewolf, “Are you sure she’s completely human?”

That wasn’t a question Kimberly was expecting to hear, then again, this was the same night Mia was maced by Kira Ford of all people. Kimberly ran a hand through her disheveled hair, “You think there’s something  _ special _ about Trini Gomez?”

“I don’t think she’s one to shove into the dark.” Tanya dared to poke Kimberly’s chest, she always pushed back on the wolf’s authority. “So you have to make a choice Kim, cause if she  _ is _ something other than human, I sure as hell don’t want her to be against us. Pushing her away, I know you think it’s protecting her but look who’s getting hurt in the process. Your pack. Trini’s gonna wind up in some ditch if she’s walking around with a blindfold”

Kimberly’s chest started to heave up and down as she stepped forward, Tanya having to step back. She wasn’t one that took to being questioned well, especially when deep down she knew the witch was right. “Argh!” Kimberly thrust her first forward, punching the cave’s wall behind Tanya’s head, Tanya may’ve been strong but in that moment she flinched-her breath catching in her throat. 

“You know I’m right” Tanya put a hand up, if Kimberly ever came near her again she’d have a spell ready to defend herself.

If Trini was going to be privy to their world, it was going to be on  _ Kimberly’s _ terms. “I need you to do me a favor” 


	7. Exploring the ZEO Cave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kira learns that there's something special in the ZEO Caves and is desperate to get her hands on it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for being so patient with me during my 30 day pride month challenge. Because of that, I wasn't able to work as consistently on this project

“Woo” Kira held onto her chest, her head resting back on the seat of the truck. Her heart was pounding, adrenaline coursing through her veins. They had survived! “That was  _ nuts!”  _

“What the hell happened?” Zack asked, turning back to face his friends, “We lost you guys for awhile” He paused, realizing it was rude to have all of this extra jerky and not offer it to his friends. “You want a piece?”

“No, no I don’t think I could eat right now” Trini shook her head, frowning, ugh. She couldn’t even  _ picture _ eating without getting sick and throwing up. She sent Kira a warning sign, they didn’t completely know  _ what _ they saw...getting Zack and Jason involved seemed like a bad idea all over. “Kira pepper sprayed a wolf”

Jason’s brows furrowed in concern, he was trying to connect the dots from the girls going to a  _ bookstore _ to  _ pepper spraying a wolf.  _ “Um….what?”

“I know! It was pretty wild!” Kira nudged Trini beside her, “I totally saved your ass”

Trini was grateful, she truly was, that Kira was there with her. Not just tonight, but from the start...someone there beside her so she wouldn’t have to deal with any of this alone. Then again, she wouldn’t have run into Vida if she wasn’t there to see Kira perform. “What do you want, a medal?” The musician’s smile only widened, this idiot, “Oh, let me get right on that” 

“I’m glad you guys are okay. It’s crazy to hear that there’s wolf sightings that close to  _ Briarwood” _ Jason was a man of the wild, he may’ve been a jock once upon a time...but the forest was always his escape when life was too hard. He loved camping...fishing and hunting were some of the rare moments in his life where he and his father actually got along. “How many were there?”

“Just the one” Kira leaned up to pull a thin stick of jerky out of Zack’s bag, she was more than okay with helping herself to it. “Fuck, these are spicy!” Her face instantly flushed after taking a bite, her eyes watering, she couldn’t take the heat. “Here, try this” She offered Trini a little bit.

“Get your meat out of my face” The smell alone was going to make her nauseous, her nerves were standing on end as it was. 

Zack couldn’t  _ help _ himself, “That’s what she said!”

*****

Jason dropped the two girls off at one of the side entrances so the two Hawthorne Academy students could slip back into the building. Trini reached over for Kira’s arm, now that the boys were driving back to the main part of town, they were alone again. “Hey, thanks for ah saving me”

“Puh-lease” Kira’s grin grew into a confident smirk, “You and I are a team, right? I’ve got your back” A pause, the taller girl craned her neck back in questioning suspicion, “You’d do the same for me right?”

“Nah, I’d let you get eaten” Trini snarked back, cheekily grinning, which in turn made Kira frown, doubt. “Of course I’d do the same for you. You’re the only one that’s given me the time of day here” Though their friendship was new, Trini felt very connected with Kira. “You’re the Robin to my Batman”

“Mmm, don’t like that” Kira shook her head, “You’re the Gabrielle to my Xena” She corrected, changing up the pop culture reference to be less dude, more girl power. Besides,  _ she _ was the one that saved Trini. Why did she think she could pull off Batman?

“...What?”

Kira rolled her eyes, “I swear to god” One of these days Trini would understand what the hell she was talking about. 

Trini shrugged, shaking her head, whatever. Kira needed to spend less time binging television. After a big shake up like that, Trini wasn’t sure if she was ready to go back to her room. There was too much tension rising between the two girls, Trini didn’t feel like she had the energy to stay strong during one of Kimberly’s  _ moods.  _ “Can I stay in your room tonight?”

“......What’re you propositioning? Look I get it, I saved your life so I must be the hottest person to you right now but-”

“Will you stop being an ass for like two seconds?” Trini slapped Kira’s shoulder, that was  _ not _ what she meant. “I don’t wanna be alone right now” She could use the comfort and warmth of a friend over the cold of her roommate. “I can sleep on the floor or-”

“I don’t recommend” Kira draped her arm around Trini’s shoulders, “You can bunk with me, it’s just  _ sleeping.”  _ The girls both knew how big a standard Hawthorne Academy dorm bed was, they were going to be a little cozy tonight. 

The two girls exited the staircase, thankful that they didn’t run into any Academy staff. Being out past curfew was a no-no. The two girls were surprised to see that sitting at the end of the hallway was a white cat, it’s head snapping at the sound of footsteps, bright green eyes reflecting in their direction. Shit! Trini gripped Kira’s arm, seeing  _ anything _ took her by surprise, “Are we allowed to have pets?”

“No” As if Hawthorne Academy would let students have a  _ cat.  _ The potential for allergies was not something administration wanted to deal with. “I haven’t seen  _ that _ one before” Kira crouched down and started to rub her fingers together, the friction creating the slightest noise, “Hey c’mere pretty girl”

“What’re you doing?” Trini was done having the hell scared out of her for the night. 

“Seeing if it has a tag, if someone’s sneaking a  _ cat _ into the dorms they’re gonna want it found by  _ us _ and not someone else” Kira cliched her tongue trying to get the feline’s attention, “Here girl. Oh please it’s a boarding school, smuggling in contraband is like a hobby” She tilted her head up in Trini’s direction, “Last year hamsters were the big thing...didn’t end well...”

As mysteriously as it appeared, the cat turned away from the two girls and ran in the opposite direction. Trini didn’t care about some other girl’s cat, she just wanted to lay in a bed and try to sleep the night away. This crazy day needed to freaking end and stat. The pair gave up on the cat and headed to Kira and Tanya’s room, trying to be as quiet as possible to not wake up Kira’s roommate. 

“She’s a pretty heavy sleeper” Despite her statement, Kira kept her voice down out of courtesy. “Here, I’ve got something for the jitters” Kira crouched down to open the mini fridge she shared with the fellow music student. She grabbed some bright red hawaiian punch, offering the bottle for Trini to hold as if it was the end of a little league baseball game. “Wait for it”

Kira opened up Tanya’s closet to pull down a hidden bottle of vodka. Contraband was the thing. Right. Leave it to  _ Kira.  _ “T’s got such a fucking hook up” This wasn’t the cheapy kind either, Tanya was bringing in top shelf liquor. Kira beamed with pride in being able to say that her roommate could sneak in the good shit. 

“...Does she care that you’re jacking her shit?”

“Ahhhh” Kira waved it off, “Being part of being roommates is sharing stuff” Aka yes, Kira stole Tanya’s stuff all the time. “She’s welcome to use my shit whenever she wants...she just...hasn’t” 

“Oh that’s because she has taste”

Kira’s face fell, unamused by Trini’s jab for a couple of seconds before shrugging her shoulders in acceptance, “That’s fair” She plopped down on the bed and started to mix a couple of drinks like a prop. “What the hell did we see back there?”

“I don’t know” Trini was thankful for the alcohol, “But something tells me it wasn’t something we weren’t supposed to”

“Yeah, yeah…” Kira took a swig of her drink, her mind running a mile a minute to try and process what she had seen, “....What the fuck do we do?”

“...I have no idea….”

*****

By the time Trini returned from Kira’s room, Kimberly was getting dressed for the day. Trini disrupted her roommate who had been currently using the full length mirror on the back of the door. “Thought you’d be gone by now” Kimberly’s jaw clenched, Trini managed to irritate her in a new record time. “Have a good night?”

Oh yeah, being attacked by a wild giant wolf was a highlight of Trini’s tenure at Silver Hills. “Do you care?”

“Not particularly” Kimberly’s nose scrunched in disgust, “You might want to brush your teeth” She commented, though Trini didn’t have a  _ lot _ of alcohol the night before, it was enough to make her breath unpleasant. “Things are getting pretty serious with you and Kira, huh? You practically reek of her”

“She’s just a friend” Trini knew  _ exactly _ what her roommate was implying. “I didn’t want to come back and bother the princess in her quarters” ...Though with that being said, she was definitely going to invest in a shower before classes started. Did she really smell like Kira?

“Mm” Kimberly adjusted her purple tie so it would line up perfectly straight, she was the epitome of keeping up with appearances, “It’s appreciated” As if taking  _ pity _ on her roommate, Kimberly carried a hint of a sympathetic smile, “Look, I don’t care if you two are messing around, but, be careful on your walks of shame” 

Kimberly cared enough to keep commenting on it, but alas, Trini wasn’t going to poke back at her if this was her attempt at  _ caring _ about her. 

“Yeah? Why’s that?”

“Word travels fast”

*****

Sure enough, Kimberly was right. As Trini walked the halls, she could feel that she was just being talked about. Her name was on everyone’s tongues. She wasn’t the  _ new _ girl anymore but the one who slept over in Kira Ford’s room...one of the most openly gay girls on campus. Were they girlfriends? Or hooking up? That was the current hot topic...with so many teenage girls in one place they attached to the rumor mill, of stories of romance or slut shaming. Kimberly was right to warn Trini of this---after all, the rumor Kira had told her was that Kimberly and her friends had some sort of bff orgy. The truth finds a way of getting twisted.

“Hi” It was Kat Hillard who reached out to her on the way to Ms. Morgan’s history class, “I wanted to ask you a question” At least if she was fishing for information she went right to the source instead of the Hawthorne Academy pipeline. 

“Kira’s my best friend, we’re not fucking, as much as everyone seems to think we are”

“Oh” Kat’s cheeks flushed red, with her pale complexion it was hard to hide  _ any _ sort of embarrassment. “I was going to ask if you’d like to join journalism, be apart of the school paper”

“What?” Trini blinked, right, Kat was acting like a school sponsored welcome wagon to try to get her involved into an activity. The Australian was right about one thing, if she didn’t join  _ something _ she would no one...which left her open to being an attachment of Kira. Now, Trini didn’t give a shit about rumors, she knew what was true, she and the musician were best friends. No, what bothered her was not being seen as her own person. “Oh. I’m sorry the um-”

“No, no I’ve heard” The blonde shook her head, closing her eyes and turning her head away as if that would make it all go away. “I’m sorry that you’re going through that”

“It’s okay---a town like this, any news is  _ news _ am I right?” 

“Unfortunately” With a deep sigh, Kat was able to mentally get back to what she originally had come for. The school paper. “So, the school paper?”

“Ah, I don’t know if I’m much of a writer” Trini admitted, she’d rather  _ read _ than  _ write.  _ Giving herself  _ more work _ may be a great way to distract herself from the monsters and  _ weird shit _ she had been seeing. “Don’t you have to be qualified?”

“We’re willing to give anyone a shot” She rubbed the back of her neck, sheepishly admitting, “So, we’re a little desperate and short staffed” Kat awkwardly laughed, “It was a bit sudden”

Trini’s brow rose, she felt like she knew  _ too much,  _ after being bit by Vida Rocca---her eyes were opened to a whole new world. “What happened?” 

“It’s like their energy was drained, their drive, their talents…” Kat was concerned about the people she worked with, her friends, “It feels like nothing is there anymore, like...talking to a blank slate” Her eyes widened at how this had sounded, “I’m sure it had nothing to do with the  _ paper”  _ Though it happened to multiple people, “Mrs. Udonna seems to think they’ve um, slipped into the wrong crowd” 

“...Right” A reason like that was part of why June decided that boarding school was the right idea for her teenage daughter.

“Now look who’s starting a rumor” The blonde chastised herself, holding her books close to her chest, “Writing for the paper has been so rewarding for me. It gets you involved in the school, the community...please, think about it and get back to me”

Getting credit and having an excuse to dig deeper and ask questions...it didn’t sound like such a bad idea after all. Though, she had to beg the question, what happened to those other girls?

*****

“Hey girlfriend!” Kira boldly announced at lunch time, dropping her tray onto their favorite table. She clearly found the whole idea of her and Trini as a couple hilarious. What other people said about her never sunk into thick skin. She smiled cheekily as the commotion gained the attention of the two surrounding tables.

“Oh stop!” It was one thing to put her head down and ignore the whole damn thing, but Kira was out here fanning the flames. Trini pulled her best friend down so the idiot would  _ sit still.  _ “She’s kidding”

“Oh it’s funny!” The wavy haired girl laughed, nudging Trini’s side obnoxiously to try and get her best friend to smile. “It’s funny” She repeated, clearly trying not to let the idea of best friends banging bother her.

“They say you’re using me to get over Tori” Yeah, it wasn’t so funny now that Tori Hanson’s name has been thrown into the mix. 

“I had to eventually, right?” Kira tilted her head, her eyes narrowing, snapping as if Trini was the one who made that up. “Wallowing in depression isn’t  _ fun,  _ no one likes to feel uncomfortable around the girl with the dead girlfriend...sorry, it’s  _ ugh.” _ It only happened last semester. 

Judgement came as a damned if you do damned if you don’t. If Kira made an attempt to move in it could be seen as too soon, or disrespectful to Tori’s memory. “Let’s go back to you being easy” Her mood completely changed from a 10 to a 1 back to a 10 real fast. It was clear to the new girl that her friend used her humor to put up a wall.

“Fuck off” Trini rolled her eyes, “I’m not  _ easy” _

Kira gasped, “Is Trini Gomez still a virgin?” She lowered her voice, “You know, you’re probably a hot commodity on the ritual sacrifice front”

“Oh shut the fuck up” That brought Trini back to her conversation with the Australian, “What do you know about the school paper?” Did Kira notice anything about girls suddenly being sapped of energy? 

“Uhhhhh” Kira drawled out, she clearly wasn’t the type to ever pay attention. “We have one?”

Trini rolled her eyes, Kira could be such a dumbass, “Kat Hillard is trying to get me to join, I’m honestly thinking about it” Trini sat back, “This school is hiding  _ so _ much. I feel like something bad happened to some of those girls...and I want to get to the bottom of it” She knew too much to let things  _ happen _ to innocent people.

“Ah, you’re a real Nancy Drew” Kira took a long sip of her drink,  _ “Speaking _ of weird shit that we should probably keep our noses out of Iiiiiiii found this” Kira pulled an old leather bound book out of her backpack, “This was in Tanya’s bag” And of course, Kira had sticky fingers. From Tanya’s alcohol to her choice in cross necklaces, nothing of hers was safe , “It’s a book on the ZEO cave near us, interesting stuff on this old settler pilgrim guy. Zebediah” Kira shrugged, “I just figured he was some white dude that gets shit named after him but I guess he was some sorta alchemist” She turned the book in Trini’s direction, “It’s an interesting read”

“He created something called the ZEO crystal” Trini read that part out loud, from what she understood of that cave was that deep inside there were crystals everywhere. “Huh”

“Yeah, sounds like some  _ Harry Potter _ shit with the philosopher’s stone.”

“The book n’movie’s called the…. _ sorcerer’s stone, _ you know that right?”

Kira rolled her eyes, was Trini going to really try and one up her on a pop culture reference? Please. She started poking at the text itself, “Look what it does”

Trini pulled the book closer to her to read over what the legend said. The ZEO crystal could provide immortality a way to live  _ forever _ but more importantly, “...It can bring back the dead”

“If I have a  _ shot _ at bringing Tori back to life...it’s here” As skeptic as Kira was to the whole thing at first, piece by piece she slowly started to accept the supernatural was  _ real.  _ It explained how Tori died to begin with. “If Lauren Shiba can have a fucking fire sword and fight monsters in the woods, then this thing’s gotta be real. It’s gotta be in that cave”

“I don’t know if  _ this _ is something we wanna mess with…” This was life and death and already they were in way over their heads. What if she came back wrong? Worse? What if it didn’t work at all? Something like this, an item to grant immortality, it could be one that was highly sought after by anything that went bump in the night.

“She’s worth the risk.” Kira wasn’t all smiles and games anymore, she saw an opportunity, blinded by lost love, “She’d do the same thing for me if there was a  _ chance.”  _ For Kira it sucked to live in a world where Tori wasn’t breathing. She held so much pain inside. Kira could channel all she wanted into her music, her singing, her original words but none of that could give her the  _ one _ thing she wanted back in this world. Victoria Hanson. “I’m going to the woods tonight, if you come or not...that’s up to you.” Nothing about this seemed like a  _ good _ idea, but Trini couldn’t let Kira do this alone.

*****

If they were going to go to the ZEO cave, if they were going to go back into the deep woods of Silver Hills...Trini made damn well sure they were prepared. Daytime was a  _ must. _ It may’ve looked ridiculous going into a popular hiking spot with metal baseball bats, and hunting knives strapped to their sides, but this was their battle plan. The front of the cave, and the first area of crystals was a spot for pictures. Teenagers, parents with their children, it made for quite the destination. Kira and Trini were going to have to go deeper into the caverns and past the roped off area park rangers had set up as a warning.

“Do you think we brought enough?” Kira asked firmly gripping onto the metal bat in one hand, her other hand held her cellphone, the light illuminating a path. 

“I don’t want to be slowed down by a backpack if we have to run” As someone with tiny legs, Trini needed all the seconds she could get in the event of a chase. She wasn’t  _ fast.  _ Not compared to a monster or a four legged giant wolf. “What’re we even looking for?”

“It’s a crystal”

“....Yeah….about that” Trini motioned all around them, clear crystals were in abundance off of the walls of the caverns. “They’re everywhere”

“I don’t know my geology” Kira poked one of the crystals with the end of her baseball bat, “But these are fairly new?”

“You don’t know shit” Hidden in plain sight? There had to be hundreds of crystals just in this space alone. If there was nothing special about the ZEO crystal it could be  _ any _ of these. Kira was expecting the all powerful life giving crystal to be obvious. “We don’t even know if it’s here” They were following a whim in a book...a book written over a century ago. With their dumb luck all it took was one park ranger, or one hiker to pick it up and bring it home as a paperweight.

“Just humor me” Kira walked to a spot where the caves wall dead ended. “Maybe it glows or something, like an Indiana Jones puzzle” She rested the bat down against the wall so she could feel it, trying to unlock some sort of hidden switch like in the movies.

“Yeah, those aren’t puzzles but  _ traps”  _ With their luck, they’d touch a crystal and take a poison arrow to the knee. Trini frowned at the idea of it. “This is  _ just _ a cave.” This was already feeling like a dead end, they didn’t have enough information, they didn’t even know if it was real or just a legend passed down generations, “Look, see?” Trying to prove a point, Trini rested her hand on what she thought was solid rock. Only her hand went through, so much so that Trini stumbled at the surprise. “What the fuck?” She quickly recoiled her hand, checking if it was all in one piece.

“....Whoa” Kira started to tap her hand against the wall to see if she could replicate Trini’s action. “Where did you touch it?”

“Right here!” Trini reached out again, instead of feeling rock she felt...crisp, cool, area on the other side. 

“Trini, it’s solid rock” A puzzled Kira scratched her head, “It’s not doing that for me”

Trini pulled her hand out in favor of tapping the wall with the baseball bat.  _ Clink.  _ Instead of going through like her hand did, it stopped dead in its tracks in the wall, even with a little added pressure, nothing. “Huh” Was all she could muster. Swallowing hard, Trini handed Kira her baseball bat in favor of touching the wall again...this time leaning in far enough for her arm to go through, right up to her elbow. “There’s definitely something here on the other side” She could feel water droplets coming down from the stalagmites of the cave. 

“Let’s hope it’s a two way street” 

“What?” Before she could register what Kira,  _ meant _ by that, the musician had already pushed her at the wall of the cave. As if nothing was there at all, Trini went  _ through  _ it and made it to the other side. “Kira you fucking bitch!” She would’ve worked up the courage to step through on her own…..probably. Aggravated, Trini poked her head back through the wall, just to see if she could get back the way she came. “Stay there” For whatever reason, Trini could go through the stone barrier and back while Kira couldn’t. 

Kira’s eyes were wide, it wasn’t every day a person could see a  _ head _ in a wall. “You got it” It was a relief to see that Trini could in fact come back over, she didn’t just damn her friend to be trapped in the ZEO cave for eternity. 

Seeing as her best friend couldn’t come through, Trini was alone now. With no natural light source, it was up to Trini’s cellphone light to illuminate her surroundings. This open area of the cave was like before, crystals coming out of the walls...only in addition to the clear crystals there were three other colors. Red, green, black. A pool of murky water surrounded what looked to be an alchemist's table. It appeared to be  _ deep,  _ Trini was  _ not _ dressed to swim with her baggy street clothes and bomber jacket. “Shit” She cursed, taking off her coat and setting it on a pointed stalagmite next to her, using it like a rack. If she was going to get wet, she needed dry clothes to regain warmth. She suspected that water in a cave, unexposed to sunlight would be on the chilly side. 

“Okay, this is weird.” Trini heaved out a heavy sigh, she wasn’t going to get answers if she didn’t try. The moment her shoe touched the clear water, it started to bubble and churn. Trini was quick to step out, fearing that the water was going to suddenly turn into acid, or anything else that could tear through her shoe and burn her. There was still time to turn around and run. It wasn’t about being fast, it was about being smart. Like the red sea, the pool of water to the center of the area split in front of Trini, making a path for her. 

“Huh” She blinked, that was much easier than trying to make the swim across. Not knowing what was going to happen, Trini thought it was best to run as quickly as possible through it in hopes to reach the table. 

The water didn’t budge. 

At least no one was there to laugh at her panic waddle. ...This girl was  _ not _ joining the track team any time soon.

“This is how I’m going to die, this is how I’m  _ going _ to die” Trini iterated, staying on high alert, she had the baseball bat still in hand and was prepared to keep anything that came her way at a distance. The moment she put a hand to the wood of the desk, torches around the pool lit up with a green flame, including two torches by the desk. The sudden fire was enough to startle Trini so badly that she fell right back on her ass. Some Indiana Jones, thankfully Kira wasn’t here to see Trini blunder under pressure. 

_ “Fuck”  _ Trini hated whatever this was--call it magic. Fire doesn’t suddenly combust, water doesn’t suddenly separate, people can’t walk through stone walls. Trini closed her eyes, focusing on her breathing, she had to try her best to remain calm and not jump at every little thing. 

This was stupid, this was  _ dangerous,  _ but she had to press forward and at least try and get some answers. What was the ZEO crystal? Was it here? ...Could they really bring back Kira’s ex-girlfriend from the grave? Kimberly’s old roommate…  _ Should _ they? If Trini actually found the ZEO crystal...life and death felt like something that shouldn’t be touched. Trini didn’t know Tori...she wasn’t her best friend, her girlfriend. What did she matter to her? Just an unfortunate soul.

Trini didn’t need her cellphone now that she could see, freeing up one of her hands. She got herself up and back to the alchemy table where she could inspect a piece of paper which was pinned to the wood by a dagger. “Huh” She hesitated on touching the handle of the blade, that felt like a trap, instead she read the paper first. 

_ Looking for something? _

_ The ZEO crystal is not safe here. Not where you can get it. _

_ I’d rather die than let it fall into your hands.  
_ __  
-D.T.

“So it is real” Clearly this message wasn’t meant for  _ her.  _ For Kira’s sake, she decided to take a picture of the parchment. Only every time she took a snap of it, the picture would come out completely black. “Of fucking course” 

Like the crystal ball in the magic shop, something was pulling at Trini to the dagger. Against her better judgement she grabbed it by the handle and with a strong tug she was able to pull it up to examine it. It was a wicked knife, one that looked far too extra. The blade was curved, the handle white with gold garnishes right down to the head of a tiger with red gemmed eyes at the rear bolster. 

She set the knife down flat on the table, in favor of searching through the desk drawers. In its hay day it had to be fully stocked with magical supplies for Zebidiah Ezekiel Oliver’s magical concoctions. If he was behind something as powerful as the ZEO crystal...he had to be capable of other incredible feats.

Empty.

Empty.

_ Empty.  _

Fuck. Trini slammed the last of the drawers shut. Whoever came by to swipe the ZEO crystal completely swept the alchemist’s table, there weren’t any supplies left. A note and a freaking dagger was all Trini could take out of this. Though, the note wasn’t meant for  _ her… _ it was in her best interest to leave it there. No harm, no foul. Trini couldn’t bring herself to re-pin the note with the dagger she had found. Instead, she decided to use the hunting knife that she had bought earlier that day to take it’s place. 

When she crossed through the rock wall, she had found Kira sitting on the ground, her body slumped over...dead asleep. How long was she in there for? Trini glanced down to her phone for confirmation that it was well into the night. Shit. She owed Kira for making her wait this long, there wasn’t very good reception out here. Poor thing, she’d do anything to bring Tori back. 

Trini crouched down to lightly pat Kira’s face in an attempt to stir her from her sleep. “Tanya? Is that you?” Kira murmured, she must have thought she was back in her dorm room. “Mmmmmm, I thought I saw you” 

“Hey, let’s get out of here”

In a bit of a haze, Kira opened her eyes...something felt off. Her normally brilliant brown eyes were grey, unfocused, in a bit of a fog. “Trini...did you...did you find the ZEO crystal?”

“No...someone’s jacked it” Trini brought Kira’s arm around her shoulders to help lift the musician up to her feet. Kira’s legs were like jello, the girl was so out of it that she had to cling onto Trini as best as she could to keep moving forward. The baseball bats were going to have to stay in the cave, it was too much of a hassle. Trini had to cut their losses.

“You went through a wall” Did she spend the time waiting for Trini getting high? She knew how important this mission was… “That was so trippy”

Now that it was night, the cave wasn’t populated with hikers and tourists alike. Getting Kira back to Hawthorne Academy was going to suck if she kept dragging her feet. At the opening of the cave, Trini was met with a large black wolf with amber eyes staring at her. It didn’t move to attack, it simply watched her intently. 

“Stay the fuck away from me” Trini held the tiger dagger that she had found in the cave out, pressing her body in front of Kira as much as she could to protect her. 

The ferocious beast tilted it’s head to the side, which would be endearing for a golden retriever, but when it came to a  _ wolf _ it only made Trini’s heart race. Her hand gripped tightly onto the hilt. She wasn’t going to let herself get pinned again, she wasn’t going to  _ freeze _ up like last time. This damn thing was  _ toying _ with her, playing with her emotions.

There was something familiar about the set of amber eyes...Trini couldn’t put her finger on it. The wolf from Briarwood was black, but it was smaller than this...darker eyes...it couldn’t be... 

This one was  _ different. _

The wolf turned and started walking away from Trini. As simple as that. 

“She wants you to follow” For someone who couldn’t walk two seconds ago, Kira was able to push herself away from the safety of Trini’s arm to start walking behind the wolf. It was as if she was in a trance…

“She?” Trini frowned, it was way too dark to confirm an animal’s gender the obvious way. That wasn’t important. Kira was blindly following a large wolf into the forest… this couldn’t be good. “Shit! What the fuck are you doing?” Trini reached for her best friend’s arm, grabbing it to prevent her from going forward. 

Kira’s head turned so fast it was sure to give her neck whiplash. Trini gasped to see that there was nothing there in her eyes...only white. “We have to follow” She stated, with no emotion, as if there was no  _ Kira _ in her body. Startled by the sudden motion, Trini let go of her friend's arm, allowing the musician to start trekking through the woods after the wolf. 

The option of running away and saving herself was cut short, two wolves stood behind her, bearing their teeth. One a chocolate brown with dark eyes, the other a wolf with light fur... _ blonde, _ with green eyes. The blonde, larger of the pair, wolf stepped forward and snapped it’s jaw as if a threat. Trini may’ve been able to stab one wolf and get the hell out of there, but now there were  _ three.  _

At the mercy of dogs...Trini clutched onto the dagger tightly...following Kira and the amber eyed wolf deeper into the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trini and Kimberly's stories will finally collide next chapter ;)


	8. Paths Collide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trini learns the big truth about her roommate and finally gets some answers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trini and Kimberly's journeys finally come to a head, never to be the same again.

With two wolves at her ankles, a best friend completely under a trance, and a third wolf leading them deeper into the woods Trini was in a bit of a bind. All she had with her to use as leverage was a mysterious dagger she found in a cave. If that could even be considered a one-up. What a night. What a night in a slew of stupid nights. What kind of karmic punishment was all of this? Her mother sent her off to boarding school...and at this rate would be getting her back in a body bag before Thanksgiving break.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. 

“Kira?” It was dumb, but maybe...just maybe she could reach her. Kira was a feisty spitfire, if anyone could overcome something it would be her sheer will.

“We have to follow her”

Trini sighed, her best friend wasn’t _in_ there at the moment...she was losing this mental battle. Regular people didn’t stand much of a chance against the horrors Trini had been researching. They should’ve been more prepared…

Up ahead, Trini could see a quaint little cabin. What a suiting place to die in the forest…

Seeing as a wolf couldn’t turn a door knob, Kira was all for making the first move to let the leader in first. All Trini wanted to do was slap the girl across the face and see if that would snap her out of it...but with the two wolves behind her raring to snap...she couldn’t risk a sudden course of action. Not only did she have to think about saving her ass, but Kira’s as well. 

“Please, sit down” Trini was greeted by none other than class president, Mia Watanabe. At the center of the room there was a little log table meant for two. Both of the chairs were moved to one side of the table while Mia elected to stand. The largest of the wolves, the one with amber eyes moved past her, Mia didn’t even _flinch._ “Can I make you something, water, some tea perhaps? This is going to be a long night” With a simple gesture of her hand, she motioned to the two seats, “Sit” She insisted, still playing _nice._

“What the hell is going on?” The two other wolves were now on Trini’s sides, watching her like hawks. Kira...as instructed, sat down without a pip...no wisecrack, no expression. “Fucking fix her”

The blonde wolf was getting impatient and let out a ferocious bark, stepping forward to spook Trini into complying. She wasn’t happy about it, but she was in no position to fight. 

Trini had focused on Mia with tunnel vision, now that she was seated she noticed that Lauren Shiba had been leaning up against the back wall in the corner, a hand on her side. Tanya Sloan was in the kitchen with a kettle heating up water for tea. This little cabin could be considered cute and quaint under different circumstances. The decorations were meant for a clear get away...the photos were of a couple...Leanbow and Udonna...teachers at Hawthorne Academy, this was their place.

Entering the room from the dark hallway it was none other than Kimberly Hart wearing nothing but a black silk robe. Trini’s heart felt like it skipped a beat, Kimberly had that effect on her...even in their dorm, Kimberly managed to take her breath away without so much as trying. As soon as Kimberly stepped into the living area, Mia moved aside, and the two wolves moved to sit at the door, blocking Trini’s exit...but getting more comfortable. “You’re a pain in my side, Trini, you know that?” 

“I’ve known that from day one” Trini had one hand on her dagger, the other one tapping at Kira’s side, hoping... _praying_ that she would come to. 

“And yet you _had_ to keep digging” Kimberly narrowed her eyes, she leaned forward, resting her hands on the table. Keeping herself above Trini to keep her in her place, she was the one to control the room. For a split second, as if looking into the crystal ball, Trini could see the amber eyes looking back at her. _Kimberly._ “I didn’t _ask_ for a roommate, yet here you are…pushing” She closed her eyes and huffed out a reluctant sigh, “Tanya, if you will...then we can get started.”

Tanya came into the room and set down a cup of tea in front of Kimberly. Everyone in the room looked to her as if she were royalty, and treated her like a freaking princess. She then stepped over to Kira and placed her hand gently on the side of her head, her thumb pressing into her forehead. Trini watched on in horror as Kira and Tanya’s eyes both flashed white. Tanya held Kira as the musician gasped for air, as if she had been underwater and clinging to life. “You’re okay”

Kira had to catch her breath, as questions were starting to flood her mind. Where the hell were they? Why? Why couldn’t she remember anything past the cave...the _cave._ Kira looked from Tanya to see Trini sitting beside her, “Oh _shit”_ She couldn’t comprehend anything, her body was still getting over the shock of suddenly being in a new place. “Fuckfuckfuckfuck we’re gonna die”

“You’re not going to die” Kimberly rolled her eyes, her arms folded, waiting for Kira to _recover_ from a little panic attack. “Relax”

“Oh fuck you Kim” Trini clenched her teeth, hating feeling so small around the girl. She didn’t get to _play_ with them like toys and belittle their fear. 

“I’d watch what you say to me” Kimberly bit back, pointing a finger at Trini in a warning tone. She didn’t appreciate being talked to in such a manner. “You two are going to get yourselves killed at this rate, it’s a _miracle_ you haven’t already” She shook her head, “I’ve been trying _so_ hard to keep you in the dark but you’re so annoyingly persistent”

“Why?” Trini tilted her head, she had a feeling in her gut that Kimberly knew more than she let on...ever since her run in with Vida at the bar, she just didn’t know _how_ much of her hand played into ...whatever this was. “Don’t we have the right to know? To protect ourselves?”

“Because I can’t afford _another_ dead roommate on my hands. You’re much safer with a day to day life none the wiser...or _actively_ looking for trouble” Kimberly held the bridge of her nose, “You think you know what’s out there based on one little book and a google search? That you’re doing a ‘good job’? This isn’t a fucking movie or a tv show where the good guys always win. You think Kira found that book by _accident?”_

Kira put two and two together quickly, she glanced up to Tanya, shifting her body away from the girl who betrayed her, “You fucking set me up” Her roommate knew she had a bad habit of taking her things...putting a book like that out in plain sight was just _asking_ be to taken, to be looked at. It’d be sloppy to keep a secret out...she wanted Kira to see it. For Kira to take Trini out to the ZEO cave far away from Hawthorne Academy. Alone. Kimberly wanted them alone. “You! We’re friends! We’re roommates! I’ve told you...I’ve told you _everything”_

“Trust me, I didn’t _like_ doing any of this” Tanya folded her arms, glaring in the direction of Kimberly, _“But_ something had to be done. I’m not here for this song and dance”

“Then talk to us like normal people!” Trini rested her head back on the chair rest, she could breathe easily knowing her classmates weren’t going to kill her in a cabin. That fear was replaced with anger. 

“We’re not _normal people”_ Kimberly shot back, “None of this is _normal!”_ She made Trini jump in her seat by slamming her palm down on the table, _“_ You think I like sneaking around in the dark? I’m doing _everything_ I can to protect you.” Needing to calm herself down, Kimberly ran a hand through her hair, “I wanted you to have a life far fucking away from all of this. From _me._ Being close to me is _dangerous._ Vampires have already used you to try to play a head game. If you didn’t _matter_ then maybe they’d stop but no...somehow _you_ still have memories and we can’t keep doing _this”_ Defeated Kimberly sighed, rubbing her forehead, “So, it’s time that I tell you the truth”

“...Memories?” Kira shook her head in disbelief, registering that Tanya was in on gas lighting her to the extreme, “No!...No...you start with Tori! What the fuck happened to my girlfriend? How did she die?”

Kimberly’s head hung low, her shoulders slumping, “I was there.” Mia tried to reach out to comfort Kimberly, but her advance was quickly shrugged off by the ringleader. “Last year the four of us were attacked by wild dogs on a girls trip to Turtle Cove...I was bitten by the alpha of that pack and we were absorbed to strengthen their numbers. I’m sure you could imagine why, pretty young teen girls...you were lucky. You were headed south to Blue Bay to meet Tori’s family that weekend so you couldn’t come”

“Silver Hills was dominated by aggressive werewolves, ones that were more attuned to their inner wolves to the point of losing their humanity entirely. I didn’t want any part of it, none of us did...this isn’t a fun little _dog club”_ Kimberly eyes traveled over to Mia, “They cursed us, berated us, made sure we stayed submissive...passive...we were only useful for one thing. I didn’t _ask_ for this life, none of us did, but I’d be damned if that was how we were going to live for the rest of our days.”

Mia tried again to comfort her friend by reaching over to hold Kimberly’s hand, their past wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. The head of the student body decided to take over storytelling, “We had to kill the alpha, if we were going to survive we had to get rid of our pack. The Shibas came from a line of demon hunters...we made an alliance with them, anything to help thin the numbers”

“It was a bloodbath” Lauren spoke from the corner, “As you all know, I’m the only one left. They were strong...stronger than any other wolf I’ve seen...” The hunter wasn’t looking at anyone in particular, her hollow voice trailed off as she started into the wood of the flooring. 

“Red, the Alpha...he caught on that we made a deal, that we betrayed him so...he wanted to make us pay. He wanted to make _me_ pay.” Kimberly couldn’t even look the two young women in the eyes, “Gia was able to hide _you,_ Kira. I couldn’t make it to Tori in time...I was forced to watch him tear her up into _pieces_ ......and I am _still_ haunted by that.”

“Fuck.....Definitely not a bear attack” Kira glanced down, she had to process that all this time...her girlfriend’s death wasn’t an accident. “...You talk like we were friends…wouldn’t I have known you were dealing with this...remember even _talking_ to Gia? I don’t...none of this makes any sense”

“We were” Kimberly admitted, “The two of us even played together...sang together...a two woman show...just you, me and our acoustic guitars.” She shook her head, at a distant memory, a time where she actually felt joy, “But, that was another life. I couldn’t live with myself if someone else was brought in and used against me like _that._ I would do anything in my power to protect Silver Hills...as the new alpha this is _my_ territory. So I had memories of our friendship erased” For the greater good.

“Just like that?” Kira kicked herself out from underneath her chair, she had been so grief stricken over Tori that everything she was holding back popped off like a bottle rocket. “Just like that you fuck with my _head?_ For how long!? I was so fucking alone this past year while you treated me like dirt!” Kira was forced to start _over_ in a private school of girls...she latched on to boys from the local high school. Desperate for friendship, Kira was quick to befriend the _new girl_ who didn’t know a damn thing about her. “I hate you!”

The _moment_ Kira rose her fist to make a punch, the blonde wolf quickly leapt up, transforming into a very human, very naked, very _pissed off_ Gia Moran. She grabbed the threat of Kira’s hand from coming at Kimberly and slammed it to the table, her other hand found the back of Kira’s neck bending her forward against the flat wooden surface. Even as a person, her expression was feral, protective, anger was entirely honed in and taken out on the musician. “Don’t. Move.” She ordered, her eyes traveling up to wait for Kimberly to say _something._ The way Gia moved to protect Kimberly was instinctual, there wasn’t even a second of hesitation.

“Jeez!” Tanya even had to step back, resting a hand on her forehead, “I am still not used to that!”

Lauren excused herself from the room all together, this was a pack matter and...Gia was very much exposed at the moment. 

“Stop gawking.” Angry green eyes honed in on Trini. The girl was staring at her dumbfounded...a _wolf_ just transformed into a person right before her. That didn’t just _happen!_ Oh god. Oh _god._ Trini could see that Gia’s body was riddled with scratches and scars. Trini turned her head forward to face Kimberly...the fashion choice in the robes made a lot more sense. Oh it clicked, Kimberly had _so_ many robes in her closet. She should have known right then and there that _something_ inhuman was up.

“Jeez Moran, you could at least buy a girl a drink before getting _this_ kinky” Kira remarked, she couldn’t budge out of this position as Gia’s grip was far too tight on her. From the corner of the room the only remaining wolf lowly growled as if _warning._ “Sorry Em”

“Let her go” Kimberly commanded, “She has every right to be pissed at me. I don’t like the choices I’ve had to make, but if the outside sees that we hate each other they won’t pick you out of a lineup” Gia let her grip on Kira go, turning back into a wolf just as quickly as she transformed into a human. She padded over to Kimberly’s side, sitting, _watching_ the outsiders of the group with trained eyes. “Sorry, she can be like that”

“Yeah, well, I always knew she was your bitch” Kira grumbled, rubbing the back of her neck. Kimberly rested her hand on top of the wolf’s head, she didn’t need her number two to fly off the handle at a remark. “How the fuck did you... _you_ do this to me?” Betrayed she looked to her roommate, how could she sleep at night knowing how she was manipulating her?

“Don’t blame Tanya” Kimberly drew Kira’s attention away from the witch in the room, “She wasn’t the one who wiped your memory, I had to take you to Briarwood for that. Tanya’s involvement has been more recent...the past couple of days with a powder. Lauren carries it with her on hunts, just in case someone sees something they shouldn't.” 

“I’m sorry Kira” Tanya rested her hands in her pockets, wanting to state her apology for the record, “I’m sorry for you too Trini”

“What I need from you guys is to stop searching, stop looking under every rock trying to find the secrets of what goes bump in the night. Silver Hills is _special,_ it draws in mystic energy...the four of us, Tanya and Lauren do what we have to protect these lands from ever falling into the control of darkness. Right now, there’s a target on my back for control of this land, and for all of the bridges Red burned. The vampires _hate_ us.” 

“So let me join your little team” Trini frowned, just because they were regular people didn’t mean they were completely useless. “Teach me how to fight, I don’t want to be _useless._ Kira and I already know too much, maybe we can be an asset for you”

“No...it’s too risky to get humans involved.” Kimberly glanced away, “At best you make for good bait” Kira and Trini frowned at the idea of _that._

“The truth of the matter is that there’s someone in Silver Hills looking for the ZEO crystal” Now that Gia wasn’t naked in the living room, Lauren returned. “You remember what you saw in Briarwood? What I was fighting? We’re not head to head with Vampires this time...we’re dealing with _magic._ A sorcerer or sorceress with powers we can’t fathom. They can bend reality to their liking.”

“Yeah, that’s a little out of my pay grade” Tanya shook her head, she wasn’t as tight knit with the werewolf girls as Lauren clearly was. “I’m sure you two have caught up on what the ZEO crystal is?”

“Oh I’m well aware. You can’t stop _me_ from looking for it too” Kira narrowed her eyes at Kimberly, “If I can bring Tori back I’m sure as hell going to. She was _murdered_ and taken away from us before her time. If anyone deserves a second chance of life…”

“Believe me” Kimberly sighed, “If I could...if I _knew_ where the ZEO crystal even _was,_ I’d bring back Tori in a heartbeat but we’ve searched that cave and there’s nothing there”

“You see past the barrier? The alchemy table?” Trini asked, tilting her head, narrowing her eyes. Seeing as Kimberly had to look to a Tanya who simply shrugged, it meant that _Trini_ finally had some information that Kimberly didn’t have. “There’s more to the cave than you think. The ZEO crystal has been taken, in fear that someone is after it to abuse it---they left this behind” Trini held the dagger up into the light so Kimberly, Mia, Lauren and Tanya could get a good look at it. 

“How did you…?”

“I was able to pass through a wall” Trini wasn’t ready to let go of the dagger just yet, “Looks like you _need_ me after all. Don’t cut us out, just because we don’t have powers or can turn into a wolf doesn’t mean we can’t help” Trini found Kimberly’s eyes, “I was a victim too remember? When that chick bit into my neck, I thought my life was going to be over, she was _so_ strong...I don’t want that to happen to anyone else. If I can help you protect these girls, I’m going to. No one should ever feel helpless.”

“You’re going to be annoyingly persistent aren’t you?” Kimberly knew exactly how it felt to be helpless, to want to fight it out and control her life again, to let it be hers.

“We can either work together and be stronger for it... _or,_ you can keep being a dick to me and I’ll figure it out on my own” Trini glanced over to Kira, the musician had been pretty quiet ever since Gia snapped at her. The girl couldn’t even come up with another quip or a way to laugh this all off. Her world was turned upside down, the past year or so of her life had been an entire lie...a _wash._ “That second option seems kinda reckless, doesn’t it?”

“I’ll train them” Lauren stepped up, she didn’t look _too_ thrilled over the idea. Trini and Kira didn’t exactly _look_ like prime candidates for monster fighting but...she’d rather them be safe. “If I’m right, and the person looking for the ZEO Crystal has the _green_ _power coin_ then we’re only wasting time”

“I’m sorry, what’s a power coin...is that...not a ZEO Crystal?” Trini glanced from Kimberly to Lauren, at least the monster hunter had the sense not to fight this. In fact, Trini was looking forward to picking the brain of the chick with a fire sword. 

“There’s six powercoins” Mia piped up, it had been awhile since she found a break in the conversation to allow herself to speak up. “Red, blue, yellow, green, pink, and black. Each one gives its owner incredible power. If one person has all six...it’s bad news.”

“This is the red power coin” Lauren pulled on a chain around her neck to reveal a red circular pendant. “It’s the only thing left I have of the Shiba clan...an heirloom passed down through generations of hunters. The red power coin represents strength. It allows me to keep up physically with demons I fight…it puts me on equal footing” She placed it back under her shirt for safe keeping.

“We’ve only come across one other power coin…” Mia sighed, “Blue”

Kimberly glanced from her allies in hunter and one of her own pack, to her roommate and ex-buddy, “If we do this, we play by my rules. You’re not getting any sort of invitations to our lunch table, and you sure as hell aren’t joining the field hockey team. As far the world knows, we hate each other.” Kira’s brows quirked, after everything she had just heard, she wasn’t exactly _fond_ of Kimberly. “You mean _nothing_ to me. Either of you”

“And here I thought we were going to be best friends” Trini now stood up, the dagger still in her hand, she knew not to point it in Kimberly’s direction after what had happened to Kira. “Braid each other’s hair, make some cool bracelets?”

“This isn’t a _joke,_ Trini.”

“I’m not a part of your little _pack,_ Kimberly. You can’t boss me around, I’m not wrapped around your pinky finger” Trini narrowed her eyes, “I don’t give a shit about lunch tables, but you have to stop making my life hell in our own dorm room”

Exasperated, Kimberly’s nose scrunched up in disgust, “Well maybe if you didn’t play your screamo garbage on full blast when-”

“Really!?” Tanya interjected, her brow quirked, “We’re here at two in the fucking morning and you ladies wanna talk about your little roommate problems?” She used her finger to motion between the alpha wolf and her human pain in the neck, “I’m tired, and I don’t know about y’all but I have to sing tomorrow. Are we _done_ here?” Like Kimberly and Trini, Tanya and Kira had to work out their issues. 

At the end of the day, despite their powers the eight girls in the room were just that... _teenage girls,_ with high school level responsibilities. 

“Okay” Kimberly glanced back at Mia, having to make a leadership decision, “You and Emma take the last patrol shift, make sure you check the cemetery. Be _careful._ If I don’t hear from Lauren or Gia I’ll know you made it back safe. The rest of us will trek back and figure out a game plan tomorrow” She was done with this for the night.

“But our endgame is the same, _right?”_ Kira was next to stand, “We stop whoever this _person_ is and we get the ZEO crystal to bring back Tori. That’s the deal?”

Kimberly started to move around the table, her expression softened, for once letting down the ice wall she kept up. “Everything I’ve done is to try to keep you safe Kira, even you too Trini. It may not be the right choice on paper and I know it’s shitty...but...I’d rather have you hate me then to visit your graves” She knew she couldn’t reach out to Kira, she couldn’t hug her like they used to embrace, “I want her back too”

“Okay” Kira was making the effort to move past this, for the greater good of getting her girlfriend---her life back. “I want my memories.” 

Tanya put her hands up, “Don’t look at me, this was not what I get paid for”

“We’ll bring you to Billy tomorrow” Kimberly assured her, “I want to make this right with you” 

“We can _start_ there” Kira scoffed out a laugh, “Explains the stupid pink pick in my case, that’s been driving me nuts” Something she held onto out of sentiment.

The leader of the group nodded, taking that as their temporary olive branch. She turned to Mia to see that the student body president was currently in the process of taking off layer after layer, “You ready Lauren?” Kimberly asked, “You’ll escort Tanya and Kira. Gia’ll be with me” 

“I’ll see you tonight” Mia surprised both Kira and Trini when she grabbed the hunter by the back of the neck and kissed her a farewell. 

“Wait, _what!?”_ The musician exclaimed _._ Tanya turned Kira around to give Mia enough privacy to remove the last bits of fabric covering her body to transform into a black wolf around Emma’s size. The blonde wolf shook its head, tired, and agitated. It already started the lead the way for Kimberly and Trini to follow while Lauren took the other pair. 

Trini still wasn’t done with her questioning, and now that she had Kimberly one on one, she could use this long walk in the woods to her advantage. “...Lauren and Mia…?”

“Lauren is Mia’s mate, yeah” Kimberly answered that as simply, and as weirdly as possible. “It takes some getting used to.”

“So why do you guys ignore her at school? Let her be…. _Lauren Shiba”_ Everyone knew the blonde’s reputation for being the _weird_ social reject. “Right. Safety” Trini rolled her eyes, it didn’t seem very _fair,_ “You guys are all about that image”

“Image and assumptions are what keeps us alive. Lauren understands that more than anyone. Hunters and werewolves don’t exactly mix.” Kimberly glanced over to Trini, “Not _everyone_ at school is _who_ ...or _what_ they say they are. That place is riddled with secrets, not just ours.” 

Like girls on the paper suddenly being sapped of their energy. Weird things were drawn to Hawthorne Academy, and Trini felt like she was only hitting the tip of the iceberg. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Silver Hills updates are going to be a little slow as I'm trying to get some Wild Pitch content up, just a forewarning. Be on the look out for Cranscotts sideline in the Wild Pitch Universe <3


	9. It's All Coming Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trini's eyes are opened to the supernatural world when she meets Billy, wielder of the blue power coin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my minds been a bit scattered to what's updating next in the queue but I thought it'd be fun to jump back to this for a chapter or so <3 hope you enjoy
> 
> TW: Are mentions of past abuse

Kimberly had dropped quite the bombshell on Trini, an abridged truth to what had happened to her as well as her pack sophomore year. Fighting Red, gaining control of his territory wasn’t easy, maintaining it was a continued nightmare. Too many things went bump in the night. This land carried power, and in the wrong hands the quaint town of Silver Hills could turn into a bloodbath. Red wasn’t making any allies but enemies.  _ Vampires.  _ The undead targeting her roommate just to get at Kimberly was low, but she’d expect nothing less. Now that Vida and Madison turned into dust in the wind, Kimberly had to brace for a retaliation.

Open one door to Trini and the questions started to come in like a flood gate. Kimberly could  _ feel _ her best friend Gia’s irritation as the blonde wolf led the pair of roommates through the woods. Was telling Trini and Kira a mistake? Would this be something that Kimberly would end up regretting? Or would telling them be the thing that saved their lives in the future. Training them in  _ basics _ was Lauren’s problem. Kimberly had enough on her plate. 

“Does it hurt?” Trini asked, her voice low, soft. The shorter girl was exhausted, the adrenaline of excitement was wearing on her human body. “When you... _ wolf out”  _ For lack of a better term, it brought a hint of a smile to the pack leader’s face. 

“It used to” Kimberly tried to think of the anatomy of her bones shifting from human to wolf, “Full moon is always the worst” She closed her eyes, “But we don’t have to worry about that for some time”

“...What?” The new girl frowned, confused, a state she’d constantly be in with every new bit of information. 

Kimberly brought a hand to her chest, making an effort to try and keep her robe closed. That was easily the most irritating part of being a werewolf, the wardrobe. “The wolf you see” She nodded in Gia’s direction, “That’s the balance of control” The appearance of an  _ ordinary wolf,  _ only much larger in size. “Three nights of every month, when the moon is at it’s fullest we lose that control” She turned her head in Trini’s direction, “The monster inside takes over” 

_ Monster.  _

Trini had to know that there was something dark brewing inside of her. That despite all of her efforts, Kimberly at her core was a beast...someone that should be feared, avoided. “It’s not so pleasant to look at.” Knowing what Trini’s next question would be, Kimberly continued on, “Lauren and Tanya lock the four of us up, take precautions...I’d rather not wake up with blood on my hands” 

This was the form that Red preferred, losing humanity bit by bit, life after life. He was corrupted before even stepping foot on the mystic lands of Silver Hills. His chaotic reign would be his own undoing.

“You say the school holds secrets, that people are more than they say” Already she had met four werewolves, a hunter, and a witch. “Why keep the secrets?” 

“This isn’t  _ Hogwarts.  _ Not everyone’s intentions are  _ good”  _ Part of it boiled down to self preservation, “Humans aren’t  _ ready _ to know what happens in the shadows, there’s a lot of bad blood.” 

“But...Headmaster Zordon…surely the  _ teachers _ know shit isn’t normal here”

“Mmm there’s a percentage that do” Kimberly clicked her tongue, trying to find the right words, “Their job is to make sure students don’t turn up dead on campus.” They’re responsible for the coverups, Mr. Zordon had done a number to downplay Tori Hanson’s death. Only a few carried on her memories. “Hawthorne Academy is the safest place to be in Silver Hills” She scoffed, “Go Huskies” She was well aware of the irony of the school’s mascot. A dog. “It’s complicated, it’s all complicated”

“Yeah…I’ll say” She swallowed, “What do your parents think about all of this?”

“My father’s a dentist and my mother’s a heart surgeon, the realm of the  _ supernatural _ goes against everything they’ve ever known” Kimberly could feel Gia slow down, as if listening in on their conversation and trying to be  _ near,  _ or supportive without breaking her position as lead. “They didn’t know me  _ before _ , why start now?”

Wanting to change the subject from her family as quickly as possible she averted Trini’s attention elsewhere, “You want to tell me about that dagger you’ve been carrying around?” Kimberly had noted it, the weapon served as a little security blanket for Trini. She wasn’t worried, the girl didn’t know how to fight, Lauren would be able to unarm her in moments if she were provoked. “You mentioned the ZEO cave” She led, hoping that Trini would take her bait. 

Kimberly could sense that Trini was still hesitant to open up, so the taller girl prodded some more, “And here I thought I was the one with secrets” They had searched that cave numerous times for the ZEO crystal and nothing. Here Trini comes and in the first week she had found a hidden area and took a treasure, a  _ weapon.  _ “What are  _ you?” _

“Nothing special” Trini shrugged her shoulders. Outside of constantly moving there wasn’t anything remarkable about the teenage girl. A mom, a dad, two little brothers. She snuck out to get high and to kiss girls. Nothing about that screamed anything out of the ordinary. “I’m just trying to get through high school”

Trini had no idea that she was  _ something.  _ Tanya had her concerns when her memory powder didn’t work, it was as if Trini had natural resistances....now it was a matter of trying to figure out  _ what _ that was before the likes of one of her enemies did. But what could she be? That was reason in itself to keep the new girl close. 

When they approached the school, the trio of girls had to stop by a tree with a hole in it. Kimberly grabbed a backpack and inside a change of clothes for Gia. Over the course of being both a werewolf and a student of Hawthorne Academy the pack found ways to  _ handle _ their condition. The blonde was quick to put on a purple field hockey hoodie and some grey joggers to go with. They were almost at their destination, a soft bed was waiting for them to finally crash and sleep this night away. 

Kimberly could see in Gia’s eyes that she wanted to talk, to say  _ something _ about their situation. About  _ Trini,  _ but with the girl around them this wasn’t the time nor place. “Goodnight, see you at practice”

“Mm” Kimberly slowly nodded, a half smile that said everything she  _ couldn’t.  _ Out of the girls in her pack Gia was the most attuned to her leader. She could sense if Kimberly was in danger, what her next move would be before she made it, and even the mundane moods she was in. Kimberly trusted Gia with her life, and vice versa. 

“Don’t do anything stupid” She added the warning, her words pointed at Trini as her version of a goodnight and goodbye for now.

When Gia snuck off to her own room, Kimberly and Trini could finally get ready for bed. Everything changed now the truth had been revealed. “Is she always such a bitch?” Trini asked, scoffing, not a fan of the aggressive blonde. 

“No, she’s really not” Kimberly opened her top drawer to find some underwear to put on, she was relieved to finally ditch this robe for something more substantial. “Don’t be so quick to judge”

“You’re one to talk”

“And you’re still annoying” Kimberly rolled her eyes, “You know if it weren’t for  _ Gia _ you’d probably be dead by now” Or  _ worse,  _ Vida Rocca could have turned Trini into a vampire just to mess with her head. “Just because I’m  _ protecting _ you, doesn’t mean I have to  _ like _ you, or this situation” 

“Here I thought we were going to be the  _ best  _ of pals” Trini shot back, the friction still ran between the two young girls. Only, Kimberly would win this round as the moment Trini had rested her head down on the magic pillow she was instantly out like a light. Asleep. 

Tanya’s magic did wonders. 

“What am I going to do with you?” Kimberly shook her head, between her current problems with vampires and now a  _ sorceress  _ in town she had her hands full enough as it was. Trini was much nicer when she was sleeping,  _ quiet.  _ The werewolf took this as a moment to pry the dagger out of her roommate’s small hand. “Now how could you get a hold of something like this?” She turned it around under the light, she had seen a blade like this once before…  _ “Shit”  _

*****

Werewolves and sleep didn’t go hand in hand. There were many nights where the girls would have to face the depths of hell, wake up, and go to school the next morning. Last night was no exception. Kimberly had to face each day, keeping up with her reputation of being on top; a good student, an exceptional athlete and most importantly the ice queen to be feared. 

Gia and Lauren knew to arrive at the girls locker room on the earlier side, needing to arrive before anyone else could see them together. Kimberly kept energy tonics hidden in her locker as a way to refresh and recharge for the day. Having a witch as powerful and resourceful as Tanya on retainer came in handy for challenges like this. 

This was their chance to regroup before their day truly started. “I don’t like this” Gia was quick to voice her opinion. “Telling Trini...giving Kira her memories back, this is bad news” The energy tonic was a bright blue, she made a face, anticipating the awful taste before taking it like a shot. 

“Well it’s a bit late now.” Kimberly held her nose as a way of being able to try and dampen the bitter taste as she drank it. She shook her head in disgust, sticking her tongue out as if the air would soothe the aftertaste. “You both are  _ lucky,  _ you don’t have to  _ live _ with the secrets” At the end of the day telling Trini was a bit of a relief. Her dorm room should be a place where she could  _ relax,  _ not a place to keep up walls and walk on eggshells. “I think this is the right choice”

Lauren, of course, wasn’t phased at all by the taste. Kimberly and Gia were sure that Mia’s cooking burned off any of Lauren’s taste buds. “We’re also at a better place” Lauren pointed out, Kimberly had taken over as the alpha of these woods and had gone through the struggles of gaining her footing. Between the four werewolves, a hunter, and a witch they were able to have a system of trust going. 

“We need to keep Trini close” Kimberly sighed, already feeling the dread of responsibility. 

“Don’t tell me you’re starting to  _ like _ her” Gia’s brow arched, her arms folded.

“Oh  _ please”  _ The leader of the pack frowned, not liking the tone her lieutenant was throwing at her, it was too early for this. 

Lauren glanced from Kimberly, to Gia and back, this wasn’t her place. “Are you ready for Kira to get her memories back?”

The simple answer,  _ no.  _

No, Kimberly wasn’t ready to face her past. She and Kira used to be close, best friends who used to do everything together. Before the attack she and the musician had plans to be a duo, having fun by performing for others. Kira carried on that dream, and Kimberly simply wasn’t a part of it anymore. She could only watch from a distance, on the outside looking in. That’s how it had to be. As hard as it was to ostracize the girl, she knew it was for the best to keep her away...she shouldn’t have to go through any more trauma. 

The door to the locker room opened and in came Kelsey Winslow, a sophomore with tanned skin and contrasting sharp blue eyes, curly hair put up into a ponytail. An athletic prodigy here on scholarship. She would always be pushing herself to her physical limits, going to the weight room early in the morning when no one else was even awake to get some reps in. Surprised to see anyone here, she had taken off her wireless headphones, “Hey” She beamed, annoyingly having more energy without a tonic to get her through the day. “We having a team meeting?” 

Kimberly and Gia made it a point to distance their social circles away from the goalie of the field hockey team in Lauren. “We’re going to do some shooting drills today. I want to be tight for our matchup with Corinth” She closed the locker with purpose, this conversation had to abruptly end now that a human was in earshot. 

Hawthorne Academy, participating in field hockey, was Kimberly’s therapy, a way to feel  _ normal  _ when she felt far from it. 

*****

After classes the werewolf pack arranged to meet up at Candy’s, a local bakery in town and home of the Cranstons. Candace Cranston was famous on the surface for her seasonal pies and decorative cupcakes for all occasions. In the front window there was a poster of the Hawthorne field hockey team and their schedule as well as the Silver Hills High football team To those that were  _ in the know,  _ she was a powerful witch, her bakery protected by invisible barriers to discourage those without souls and demonic patrons. 

Keeping up with their appearances, the group staggered their entrances. Lauren would arrive first, she was a fan apple pie and could inform the older woman on what had happened. As a hunter, she spoke the best broken code to relay information without being suspicious. Mia, Gia and Emma would take a table in the corner and get an order of cupcakes, waiting for their leader to arrive. Tanya was responsible for bringing Kira to the bakery, the two music majors had a lot of talking and working out since the truth was revealed. 

Which left Kimberly and Trini...still in their dorm room. With a huff, Kimberly zipped up a purple hoodie, if she wasn’t in uniform she was always casually still in purple and silver. “We’re late”

“Sorry that class ran long” Trini rolled her eyes, taking off the blazer to the uniform and tossing it to the bed.  _ “What?” _

“I don’t like to be late” Not when people were  _ waiting _ for them to arrive, Kimberly folded her arms, narrowing her eyes at her roommate as she started to change, “You’re doing this on purpose just to irritate me, aren’t you?”

“That was definitely my goal, yeah” Trini responded sarcastically, now that the truth was broken this little arrangement was supposed to be  _ better.  _ Ha. The shorter girl turned, “Can you  _ not _ watch me like a steak?”

Kimberly rolled her eyes, Trini wished. She then sat down at her desk and tapped her fingers against the wood. If her roommate was going to drag her feet, she was going to have to let out her anxious energy somehow. 

_ “Relax”  _ Trini sighed, standing in front of her closet and wondering what she would wear, “We’re meeting at a bakery, what’s the worst that’s going to happen? A sugar coma?”

“Never, _ ever, _ say what’s the worst that can happen” Kimberly shook her head, in Silver Hills those words could be a silent jinx for the  _ worst to actually happen.  _

“Right” Hellmouth. “So what’s the craziest thing you’ve ever come up against?” Trini asked curiously, turning her head in Kimberly’s direction. 

The werewolf couldn’t fault the curiosity, Trini was thrown into this world neck first, “You’d be surprised on what kinds of demons are attracted to this town” 

“Huh” A pause, a frown, she didn’t like the sound of that, “So do you constantly crave meat? Like if you were hungry enough would you...try to eat me?”

“...You’re joking.”

“I want to be prepared! If I have to sleep with my knife under my pillow because you’ve got a late night craving, I should know”

Kimberly had to break, turning back in the direction of her roommate to see that she was putting a black and yellow plaid shirt over a white tank top. “I can’t tell if you’re being serious or not.”

“...Ahhh like 75:25” Trini teetered her hand left and right, a smile forming on her face. Even though she got under Kimberly’s skin, the shorter girl was starting to show her true colors...she was feeling more comfortable around her. “...Do you like...go through heats?”

“Okay we’re doing talking  _ biology”  _ Kimberly gritted her teeth wanting to avoid  _ that _ rabbit hole of a question. Getting up she snapped her fingers at her roommate, trying to get her ass into gear as if she were one of her teammates, “Put some pants on and let's  _ go.  _ We’re late enough as it is, and Billy doesn’t like tardiness”

Trini had heard the name a couple of times now, “...Who exactly is  _ Billy?” _

Wanting to put it as simply as possible she sighed, “He’s the keeper of the blue power coin” Shaking her head, she continued, “You’ll see when we get there” 

*****

By the time they made it to Candy’s the pair of roommates were late. Kimberly had been feeling an anchor in her stomach about fulfilling her promise to Kira all day. This was an olive branch, a way to possibly bring a friend back into her life. A  _ friend.  _ Kimberly didn’t think she deserved one of those. Gia, Emma, and Mia their lives were bound to their alpha, Kimberly had accepted that they were the ones who she would let close. Lauren, was she even a friend? Tanya felt more like a business partner. Now Trini…...Trini was just her roommate.

“About time” Kira was just as antsy, the girl just wanted to  _ get this over with.  _

“You girls hungry?” Candance asked, walking over to the counter to greet the werewolf and her little companion. 

“No we’ve made you all wait long enough” Kimberly answered for the both of them, Trini’s pouty face said otherwise. Cupcakes, pies, yummy desserts, even ice cream were for people who were  _ on time.  _ “Is Billy upstairs?”

“Don’t crowd him” The older woman chuckled, “That boy does not need the excitement of a bunch of pretty girls in his room”

Like always, the decision boiled down to Kimberly. Obviously Kira would have to go, Kimberly wanted Trini to see the other side...what the power coins were capable of. That this life isn’t something to desire. “Tanya” Kira could use people that were on her side, her roommate, “And Emma”

If she were to pick anyone from her pack to stay below, Gia was the best defender, and Mia’s energy only strengthened around her mate. Emma was the compassionate one, the  _ nice one _ of the pack...Kira didn’t need a  _ soldier _ but a friend right about now. 

“Very well” Candace reached below to pull up a fudge square to hand to Trini, “She may need this” Kimberly took it knowing that it was likely that Kira wouldn’t want to  _ eat _ after this. 

With Mrs. Cranston’s permission, the five girls went up the stairs to their living area. The mother and son duo lived in a quaint space. Billy’s father had died in a mining  _ ‘accident’  _ over in California, but those who were close knew the true story. He died protecting the blue power coin and sent it with his son and wife across the country. Hoping to give the two people he loved most a second chance. 

It didn’t take long to find Billy’s room, just as Kimberly raised her hand to knock on the door a voice called out, “It’s open Kim!” Of course he knew that they were there. Showtime. 

Billy’s room was much like any other teenage boys, minus the posters of the sexy women. He had been sitting at his desk with headphones in, his back to the door, “Sorry, sorry, I was getting to the good part of this movie” A pair of sunglasses were set on his desk that he pulled on before turning in his chair. Along his lap there rested a white cane with a red tip. 

“Tanya” His smile brightened feeling the witch’s presence, “Hi Emma” He stood wanting to be polite to the girls filling in the room, “Kira...and….oh you’re new” Billy lurched forward just enough just to be a little off from where Trini was standing, “I’m Billy Cranston, well technically William Cranston but that’s my dads name so I like to go by Billy. You’re Trini”

“Uh yeah…” The new girl was slow to shake his hand, “How did you know that?” An amused glance to Kimberly, her eyebrow arching, “You been raving about me?”

“Don’t flatter yourself” Kimberly folded her arms, not appreciating Trini’s cockiness. The new girl had been hanging out with Kira for too long. 

“I’m the keeper of the blue power coin” Billy nodded his head, tapping the blue stone around his neck, “It enhances the mind, I can read your thoughts, feel your emotions and...if I  _ wanted _ to, I could control your every move. The body listens to the mind. Every power coin has it’s pros and cons list it just depends on how you wanna use it”

“Like sealing away someone’s memories.” Kira sharply interjected his little explanation of the blue coins powers. “Yeah, I’d put that in the  _ villain _ column of the list, wouldn’t you say?”

Billy’s mouth hung agape, “Well” He nodded his head, shrugging his shoulders, “She’s got me there. You didn’t lose your fire, that’s for sure”

“Don’t blame yourself for that Billy, you only did what  _ I _ asked” Kimberly sighed, walking forward to see what movie was on Billy’s computer.  _ Jurassic Park.  _ Even only relying on audio the movie was still a classic, “We’re here to undo that”

“Right, right, right. Okay.  _ Okay”  _ The wielder of the blue power coin turned around, handing Emma his cane. “You hold this” He pointed a finger in Kira’s direction, “You sit on the bed” A pause, “That’s not a come on, I promise. I just want you to sit somewhere soft and a mattress-”

“I got it” Kira cut him off, not wanting to hear another case of the rambles. 

“Support, you stay back, she’s going to need you in a couple of seconds” Billy then took off his glasses revealing to the humans in the group that not only was he blind, he didn’t have an iris or pupil at all…just the whites of his eyes. He could feel the energy in the room shift, that Kira and Trini were both taken aback by his sudden appearance. “S’okay, I don’t need ‘em” With Kira sitting on the bed, his hands hovered along the sides, “Are you ready? Once I start there’s no going back”

“Like ripping off a band-aid right?” Kira tried to remain tough, to laugh it off, but one glance up to Kimberly showed the werewolf that she was scared...scared of what had been lingering in her mind this whole time. In this room she and Trini were the lowest on the food chain, a  _ cow _ compared to Kimberly’s wolf. She didn’t do magic, she didn’t have a fire sword or red power coin enhanced strength. Kira was  _ only _ a human who had a gift for singing. 

“I’m going to turn on some music” Billy explained, the walls were thin and the bakery didn’t need a reputation for second floor screaming. “Hey Siri play Country Mix 3”

_ “Playing country mix 3” _

Tanya reached over to the speaker to turn the volume up, Dolly Parton’s peppy  _ 9 to 5 _ started to blast. “Really? This?”

Billy shrugged, “What can I say? I like my country”

“You’ve really taken me to hell, haven’t you?” Kira shook her head, bringing a smile to Kimberly’s face...she had missed her friend and her quips. 

“Relax” Billy rested his hands on the sides of the girl’s face, his thumbs pressing into her forehead. Despite the peppy music in the background he needed to concentrate on unlocking the darkness that had been boxed up nicely and left to collect dust. 

“Is this going to _ hurt _ her?” Trini asked, feeling this was the last chance to pull Kira out of this would be too much. 

“The  _ process?”  _ Billy shook his head, “No”

“Just fucking do it” The one sitting on the bed demanded, looking up into Billy’s empty eyes, “I want to remember”

Emma had stepped over to Kimberly, she too used to be close to Kira once upon a time. All of them were. It was the  _ six _ of them. Kimberly, Gia, Mia, Emma, Kira and... _ Tori.  _ Kimberly questioned her choice to bring Emma when the soft girl wrapped an arm around her waist, resting her forehead on Kimberly’s shoulder. “I’m here for you” She kept her voice low, only for her friend’s ears. Kira wasn’t the only one who needed the support. It was nice to have someone to hold onto.

Kimberly could feel Trini’s eyes on her, watching the exchange. The pair seemed far too intimate for Emma to have a  _ girlfriend _ in  _ Gia.  _ There was so much that she didn’t understand.

Billy’s eyes went from white to a brilliant shade of blue as the process started. Kira wouldn’t just be gaining her memories back but feeling  _ each  _ and  _ every  _ moment as if it were freshly happening. Kimberly had to turn her head away when she started to see the tears stream down Kira’s face...Tori, her whole world was the easy going ocean lover. Just as the musician was finally in a comfortable place without the tall blonde in her life, she got to feel the warmth of her touch once more only for that to be torn away by a corrupted werewolf in Red. She was faced with the fear she felt that day as Gia was the one to put her into hiding, swearing to protect her with her life and that Kimberly was sure to be doing the same for Tori in that moment. 

It was so much. 

So much pain.

Kira’s body threatened to double over, unable to take the emotional blow after emotional blow. The funeral. The speech she had tormented herself over to write and recite at a memorial service. Trini and Tanya moved to sit on the bed with their friend, each taking a shaking hand, holding her up so Billy could keep diving into her mind, her  _ pain,  _ and what little joy she had left in there from those months. 

Dolly Parton’s lyrics muffled the pained throaty wail escaping from Kira.

_ Workin' 9 to 5, what a way to make a livin' _

_ Barely gettin' by, it's all takin' and no givin' _

_ They just use your mind and they never give you credit _

_ It's enough to drive you crazy if you let it _

Kimberly started to rub Emma’s back, seeing her old friend feeling every exposed pain from their past only reminded the two wolves of the trauma they had gone through. How aggressive the males of the pack were with them. Green would leave Mia broken and bruised if she spoke back to him in a tone he didn’t like. Blue acted predatory towards Emma, feeling entitled to her body, whispering words that still haunted her to this day in her ear. Gia and Kimberly had felt the brunt of the pain, trying to resist their hold on them the most. They never  _ asked _ to be werewolves, and they certainly didn’t ask to be Red’s  _ females.  _ Kimberly would rather be dead than to live through that again. Usurping the Alpha by killing Red was the cross she had to bear, but ultimately saved their lives.

When Billy finally let go, Kira gasped for air, her head hanging low. Trini was there to hold her friend as the musician sobbed into her shoulder. Tanya did what she could, rubbing Kira’s back, girls had to stick together to protect one another. 

Overcome by the emotions, and not being able to handle himself well around girls who cried, Billy piped up, “Kimberly, can we take a walk?”

“Of course” Kimberly gingerly pulled herself away from Emma, kissing her friend’s forehead, “We’re in a better place now” She reassured, squeezing the soft girl’s shoulder and ultimately, letting her go. She grabbed Billy’s cane with a free hand, the other, giving Kira’s knee a gentle squeeze as she walked by. “I miss her too” 

Kira was raw, her emotions were at a peak, sensitive. The girl was experiencing shell shock and whiplash all at the same time and the only way to treat it was just to ride it out and catch up to the present. 

Kimberly and Billy left Candy’s all together. Her arm in his to support him as they walked the main street of Silver Hills. The alpha of the pack felt comfortable with the girls at the bakery, they had a way of taking care of their own. Candace was a motherly figure to all of them out here, where life felt so detached from where they came from. Surely some fudge and some sweets might soak up Kira’s tears.

“I wanted to talk to you about the new girl” Billy could speak freely to Kimberly now that they were in the fresh air, and away from the pack. “There’s a lot she’s not telling you”

“You know, I’m sure there’s a code about reading people’s minds” Kimberly kept her voice low. How nice that the ice queen from Hawthorne Academy would be giving the home schooled blind kid the time of day. “What did you see?”

“No written code---but it’s probably  _ rude”  _ That never stopped the wielder of the blue power coin, he was naturally a curious boy. “The inside of the ZEO cave, a place where neither you or I could go”

“So she is someone special” Kimberly sighed, that was what she was afraid of, “And she has no idea”

“Not a clue”

“What  _ is _ she?” She asked, hoping that Billy was able to see something deeper that she couldn’t.

“If  _ she _ doesn’t know, then I don’t have access to it. But I  _ can _ tell you something from her mind’s eye” Billy sighed, “The ZEO Crystal was moved from the cave by someone with the initials of  _ D.T.  _ Whoever they are wanted to get it before someone else did”

Considering the mysterious sorcerer or sorceress out there hiring vampires and on a rampant search for  _ something  _ maybe it was for the best. “Do you know those initials?” He asked curiously.

“No, that can be anyone” Kimberly sighed, knowing what was likely to come next from the blue coin wielder, “Don’t say it”

“You should contact Tommy”

With her free hand, Kimberly held onto the bridge of her nose, if there was one person she didn’t want in her territory it was  _ Tommy Oliver.  _

“Kimberly, if there’s anyone who knows when you’re  _ in over your head _ it’s me” His smile was soft, sympathetic, “What’s the worst that can happen?”

“I  _ really _ wish you didn’t say that”

Kimberly  _ hated _ when Billy was right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3 <3 stay strong, healthy, and safe in these crazy ass times <3 <3 <3


	10. Welcome to Journalism Club

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With another offer to be a part of the school paper, Trini is suspicious to what happened to the other girls that were in the club. Something felt off and she was going to find out who, what, where, when and why. The fundamentals of journalism.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Halloween everyone!! I was trying so hard to make sure this fic would be updated for the occasion and here we are. Hope you enjoy :D

Trini had never seen a person so frail, so broken, before in her life. Kira was always strong, sarcastic, a pretty ballsy girl who took life by the horns and paid for the consequences later. A couple of minutes with Billy and she was left a  _ mess.  _ Trini held onto her friend tightly, reassuring her that she was okay---that was in the past. Glancing up to Tanya, the girl on Kira’s side, Trini was looking for a clue on her face. How much did they possibly go through?

“This isn’t a life you  _ want”  _ Emma’s voice was soft, her arms folded now that Kimberly had gone. “It’s filled with pain, hurt,  _ suffering.”  _ She crouched down in front of Kira, resting her hands on her friends knees. “We were trying to protect you”

“You guys are assholes” Kira sniffed into Trini’s shoulder, trying to find a way to save face. Her sense of humor didn’t come off as well after everyone saw her dark mascara running. “God, what the fuck?  _ What the fuck?”  _

“Can you get her some water?” Trini asked of the witch sitting on Kira’s other side.

“Of course” Tanya’s smile was sympathetic, she knew the hand she played in Kira’s memory loss. Anything she could do to  _ help _ her roommate, even if it were something small.

The moment Tanya left, Kira sat up on her own, dabbing her face with the back of her hand. Her body was still recovering from the tidal wave of past emotions flooding through. It was short of a miracle that she didn’t get  _ sick.  _ “What about Zack, Jason?”

Emma’s lips tightened, her eyes averting away from the two humans sitting on the bed. Kira suffered a hard fall from grace at Hawthorne Academy when she was suddenly cut off from her friend group and left eating alone at lunch. 

“He could create memories too, right?” Kira concluded, having first hand experience of Billy’s abilities.  _ Twice _ now the wielder of the blue power coin had messed with her head. Only to learn that she wasn’t the only one who had been  _ adjusted  _ to fit Kimberly’s desires, “Was the entire past 8 months of my life a lie? Did they even  _ know  _ Tori?”

“....Are they even human?” Trini asked, feeling defensive of her friend.

Emma stood up, out of the werewolves she was perhaps the  _ worst _ one to handle confrontation. “Yes they’re human, no they’re not anything special” She shook her head, biting her bottom lip, “Kimberly wanted to make sure you had  _ someone _ in your life…”

“Oh how  _ thoughtful”  _ Kira bit back, gritting her teeth. Trini had always wondered how Kira’s path crossed two public school boys. Fabricated memories didn’t make for her top ten theories. Kimberly was a real piece of work who wanted Kira away from her and her pack as far as possible. 

“Only the initial memories were Billy…” Emma tried to explain, tried to ease the blow, “These past 8 months, that…Zack and Jason  _ are _ your friends Kira, those feelings...that loyalty, that’s  _ real”  _

_ “Loyalty”  _ Kira scoffed, more standoffish than usual. Tanya had come in with a glass of water, one which Kira reluctantly took. “Can you guys just...leave me alone?” Her mind was still racing, reeling from the past, from the reality of their grim situation. She loved and lost Tori all again in a matter of seconds, the whiplash was too much. “Please?”

“Sure…” Trini understood, no...she truly  _ didn’t _ understand the turmoil Kira had faced under Billy’s touch, but she could see why Kira wouldn’t want anyone else around her. “We’ll be right downstairs” 

The three girls descended the stairs to find that Gia and Mia were sitting at the counter of the candy shop, enjoying milkshakes. Lauren was nowhere to be seen, of course---the last of the Shiba clan couldn’t be  _ seen _ with the werewolf back. Feeling Emma’s sadness over the whole situation, Gia got up and brought her milkshake to her. Trini felt like she was intruding on a private matter, none of these girls wanted her in their circle, wanted her to know the truth but here she was. They weren’t her friends, she was their  _ burden _ to watch over, to keep safe under their leaders orders. 

“Something sweet will make you feel better” Candace came around the counter with a chocolate chip cookie, offering it to the new girl free of charge. “I didn’t catch your name earlier”

“Oh” Even if she wasn’t  _ that _ hungry, it was hard to deny this woman’s kindness. “I’m Trini...I’m pretty new here to Silver Hills” She picked off a piece of the chocolate chip cookie.

“You can call me Candace, sweetie” With these girls, she acted as a mom away from home. “Mrs. Cranston is  _ way _ too formal” She rested a hand on her shoulder, “You’re always safe here”

“She’s right” Tanya moved to sit at the counter, with it being an odd hour of the day, they had this place all to themselves. “Candy’s got a protective barrier around it”

“So you’re a witch” Trini concluded, glancing up to the older woman, and then down to the cookie, “...These aren’t magic are they?”

“Nope, 100% all natural, made with love honest to goodness cookies” Candace laughed at the implication, “Inside the barrier this is a magic free zone, unless an emergency of course. I don’t want trouble, and Billy sure as heck doesn’t need anyone snooping around here”

Lucky for the Cranstons they had the protection of the local teen wolf pack. Kimberly’s territory didn’t  _ just _ cover the students at Hawthorne Academy, her plate was full trying to keep the citizens of Silver Hills safe as well. “Right yeah...that...makes sense” Trini picked off another piece. Candace sure had a gift, these tasted amazing. 

Trini didn’t want to crowd the werewolves, especially when Gia was in full alert-bitch mode to anyone that  _ wasn’t  _ her mate. Instead of going to the bar, Trini decided to wait for Kira sitting in the corner booth. It was there she could look at the glass door, a way to gaze out onto the main street of Silver Hills. To each person that passed by, Trini wondered---were they  _ actually _ human? What secrets did they hide? No wonder Kimberly was so on edge all the time...what was beneath the surface? Who could she trust? 

That was when she saw it...the  _ white cat,  _ sitting in front of the storefront  _ watching _ her. She had seen it before...in the halls of Hawthorne Academy...maybe even again before that. As if teasing her, the mysterious feline tilted it’s head, Trini could  _ swear  _ it was smirking at her. 

“Do you have a new familiar?” Tanya asked the elder witch in the room. Nodding her head toward the front door, confirming that Trini wasn’t crazy. The others could see it too. 

“Oh Billy, I swear” The mother let out an exasperated sigh, “He’s always trying to feed the strays” 

“I’ll take care of it” There was a glint of excitement in Gia’s eyes. Her throat rumbled threateningly as she neared the glass door, slamming her hand against it to scare the cat off. The werewolf had far too much fun asserting her dominance over an outdoor cat.

Tanya rolled her eyes, leaning on the counter, “Oh thank god Gia’s here, we’re safe all now”

At the sound of rustling, the three werewolves were the first ones to suddenly cock their heads in the direction of the stairs. It was a barely emotionally recovered Kira thumping down, making a beeline to the door. “I need to get out of here” She couldn’t be around the people who altered her life, not yet, she wasn’t strong...she couldn’t  _ adapt  _ right away. Kira Ford was only human, and because of it, her life was decided  _ for _ her. When she noted Trini getting up she pointed, “Sorry, but...it’s not really storming out if you come  _ with _ me” Needing fresh air and  _ alone time,  _ Kira exited the candy shop, leaving Trini with the others. 

“You think she’s going to do something  _ stupid?”  _ As the closest to the door, Gia had to turn and walk back to the others. 

“She just went through a lot” Emma argued, shaking her head, “I think she’ll be just fine...in time…”

*****

Trini hadn’t heard much from Kira after the musician got her memories back. She tried her best to reach out to her via texting but was getting no response. Should she worry? Now that she was  _ aware _ of what went bump in the night she couldn’t help but think of the worst...it didn’t help matters that Kimberly was avoiding their dorm room as well. Now that the truth was out, Trini hoped that she would be included  _ more,  _ or at the very least that Kimberly would tell her the truth to what was going on. One conversation with Billy Cranston and the alpha werewolf left Silver Hills for an entire night. Trini didn’t  _ like _ to be left in the dark.

How could she go to class like normal? How could she pay attention to  _ math _ and formulas when her best friend could be running into a den of vampires to try and get revenge, her roommate---God knows where. After how shitty Kimberly treated her...it felt odd to  _ worry _ about her...now that she knew the  _ truth,  _ what she had gone through. Trini felt the urge to want to  _ be _ around the alpha werewolf, to get to know her more...maybe give her some sense of normal that the other girl desperately craved. 

When lunch came around, Trini was surprised to see not only Kimberly had returned to her pack as if it were a regular day...but Kira was sitting on the table outside, a guitar in hand. Knowing that a crowded cafeteria wasn’t the place to confront Princess Kimberly and her court, Trini decided to go outside and speak with her best friend. 

“You ever think about texting me back? What the  _ hell _ Kira” She didn’t waste any time scolding her friend. The regular people had to stick together if they were going to survive Hawthorne Academy. “I’ve been worried about you”

“Oh, right, sorry” Kira’s smile was sympathetic, “I was taking a break from... _ everything _ that reminded me of  _ her” _ 8 months of trying to get over Tori, and here she was thrown back into the healing process as if a scar opened up and started to bleed through it’s bandages. “Were you worried about me?”

“Yes. I thought you were going to do something  _ stupid”  _ Trini didn’t feel any qualms slapping Kira’s knee, “And that you got yourself eaten or worse-”

“Nah I just stocked up on some silver” Kira’s laugh was dark, the musician was always sarcastic but after what she had gone through...Trini wasn’t sure if she was kidding or not. “Please, you think I have the money for that? Too much estrogen. I just went to Zack and Jason to get fucked up, okay? I...had to know if they still felt real after everything…” A pause, a tick of her head, “Survey says they’re alright” She snapped her fingers, “Jason’s cousin moved in with them, she’s hot...not big on the basement shenanigans”

“Meaning she’s out of  _ your _ league...may even have standards” Trini teased, only to get smacked in the head. Joking around, playing back and forth, it was some semblance of normal in this town that she could cling on to. “So...you’re okay?”

“Oh far from” Kira shook her head, shrugging her shoulders, “But the world’s still turning, gotta keep getting up and doing... _ this”  _ She motioned around to the school, they still had to be  _ students.  _

Inside the cafeteria, Trini could see Kimberly motion her head towards the two girls outside, a non-verbal command to Lauren who normally was seated in the corner, far away from the popular tables. The way Kimberly and her pack worked was like a well oiled machine of secrecy and hidden cues, a body language that Trini was slowly starting to pick up on. All Kimberly had to do was  _ look _ in a certain way and one of her girls would be on the go, acting as her knights on a chessboard. 

“Ah she couldn’t make the move herself” Kira was able to pick up on it as well, Kimberly had to uphold her  _ reputation,  _ an  _ image  _ that she wanted nothing to do with the rejects. “Sit, welcome, you should be out here more often. Why eat alone when you can be a part of the losers?” The musician gestured to the spot right in front of her, “The weirdo, the orphan and the  _ new kid.  _ I think we’ve got something here. A trio of rejects”

“I wanted to see how you were doing.” Lauren sat down, taking Kira’s invitation to heart. “The both of you”

“You mean  _ Kimberly _ wanted to know how we were doing?” Trini corrected, a smug smile as she looked past Kira, making eye contact with the alpha werewolf herself. It was then she sent her a small wave, only to get a glare in return---so, it was a little fun to mess with her roommate. 

“She cares”

“She sure has a helluva way to show it”

“Yes, she sent me” Lauren wasn’t the type to shy away from a direct command, “But, I also want to schedule a time where I can start training you...at least the basics”

“Monster hunting 101, rad” Kira set her guitar back in it’s case, her attention diverting into the cafeteria. That feeling of being  _ watched _ crept up her spine.

“No.  _ No.”  _ Lauren corrected, putting a finger up, “You’re not actively going  _ after _ anything, this is for self defense”

“I have a free period after biology” Trini wanted to  _ try _ and meet Lauren...and effectively Kimberly, half way. If this was her life now, she wanted to be prepared. Someone like Lauren could teach her how to use the dagger she kept in her backpack. 

“Mmm right, right, whatever.” Kira didn’t seem that interested in coordinating times, not right this moment. “Hey Laure, how good is a werewolves hearing?”

“Pretty acute.” She answered with a small nod of her head, for a monster hunter with her accolades, it was an easy question to answer. 

“So….they could say...hear through this glass?” Really, what Kira wanted to know was if the werewolf pack could actively hear their conversations from where they were seated. 

Lauren’s glance flickered to the four girls before answering the question, “Yes”

It was easy for a girl like Kimberly, with werewolf-like abilities, to stay in power. At a lunch table, through the halls, she could hear everyone’s secrets. Know what rumors were going to come out of the mill before they even spread like wildfire. All this time and Trini didn’t have much privacy from her roommate...she likely even heard Kira accuse the four girls of orgies. Oops?

“Good, because I’ve got a little message for Kimmy” Kira snapped her guitar case shut, grasping onto the handle. She then stepped forward, so she could lean into the monster slayers face, “She wants to play games,  _ fuck her,  _ fuck this image obsession. For our own good? For  _ our protection?  _ Well here’s what  _ I _ have to say about  _ image.”  _ Without warning, Kira surprised the blonde by leaning forward and capturing her lips in a kiss. She knew what she was doing, how busy the cafeteria was, Kimberly and her pack would have to deal with the whispers, the theories about Kira and Lauren kissing in the courtyard. 

Trini watched a _very_ pissed off Mia Watanabe stand up, only for Kimberly to grab her arm and forcibly sit her back down in her seat. It didn’t take much for Lauren to push the musician off of her, a gentle shove of the shoulder. Kira’s damage was done, her smirk was full of wicked glee as she turned to the window to face the popular girls; the ones responsible for her memories to be jumbled, to be outcast for so long, for not being there for her in her most time of need. They wanted to mess with her mind, she had no problem messing with theirs. Making her exit from the area all together, Kira sent one last message of proudly shoving her middle finger up in the air, truly punctuating her _fuck you Kimberly_ sentiment.

“...Uh….” Lauren could fight monsters with ease but when it came to girls and the drama they could come with she was rendered pretty useless. The blonde rubbed the back of her neck, sheepishly looking to Mia, trying her best to apologize with a gaze through the window. 

“Kira’s just....” Trini wasn’t sure how to finish that sentence, how to apologize for her best friend’s outburst. “...Lashing out…”

“Right, I should uh” Not knowing what else to do outside of removing herself from the situation entirely, Lauren turned in her tracks, almost bumping into Kat Hilliard as the tall blonde Australian approached the hot table of the afternoon. “Excuse me”

“So sorry to interrupt?” Kat watched as a flush faced Lauren made a beeline out of anyone’s line of sight. “I ah, I didn’t realize Kira Ford and Lauren Shiba were dating” She commented, making an observation about the kiss. “How cute” Cute, the two outsiders found each other. Hawthorne Academy  _ loved _ talking about the latest hookups and the hot gossip. With no  _ boys _ around, Trini noticed a spike in sapphic activity.

“Oh they’re not…uhhhhm” Trini tried to do a little bit of damage control, for  _ Mia’s sake.  _ “I dared Kira to do it and...well...she actually had the balls to…ahh” She trailed off not wanting to dwell on Kira’s sudden liplocking move on Lauren--a girl who very much had a  _ girlfriend.  _ “What’s up Kat?”

“I’m sorry if I come off as forward” Kat sat down at the lunch table, “But I need an answer about the paper…” She glanced up, big bright eyes full of hope, the desperation had set in. “It’s now just down to me and one other girl…it’s becoming a bit overwhelming”

With everything going on between Kimberly and the wolf pack, Trini never had the chance to really  _ think _ about joining the journalism club and take up a role on the school paper. As much as she hated the idea of  _ clubs _ or extra  _ work,  _ it would be nice to not be so slated as the  _ new girl.  _ Here around Hawthorne Academy, not being involved in  _ anything _ made a person a nobody---a nothing. Trini had spent so long hopping from school to school being considered the punk, the stoner, the tough girl...it was nice to have an opportunity where she could start fresh and  _ be _ someone else. Besides, being a part of the school paper gave her an instant in to start a conversation---to dig in places she shouldn’t. 

Kat’s tale about the other members of the paper had stuck in the back of Trini’s head,  _ “It’s like their energy was drained, their drive, their talents…it feels like nothing is there anymore, like...talking to a blank slate” _ . Trini’s gut said that there was foul play involved in this...that there was more to it than just girls losing interest in a hobby.

“I’ll do it” Trini confirmed with an astute nod. “I’ll join the school paper”

*****

Trini wasn’t sure what she was agreeing to when she signed up for the school paper, her writing skills were  _ okay.  _ This would be something she could tell her mother she was  _ doing _ to get involved at school, if anything to get her off her back. As much as she had fun being around Kira, and following her with her music...at the end of the day that was  _ her  _ thing, not Trini’s. Trini wanted something to call her own, to be involved with something other than waking up, going to class, almost dying and then going to sleep to start the next day. Journalism seemed like a good outlet.

Kat Hilliard was nothing but nice and welcoming to Trini, the tall blonde was  _ easy _ to get along with. Her energy was the complete  _ opposite _ of chaotic Kira, or overly territorial Kimberly. While she and Kat were still acquaintances, Trini hoped that she would be able to call her a  _ friend _ down the line. Trini always considered herself to be invisible back at her old schools, but  _ here,  _ at boarding school...it got lonely pretty easily. She had to build a support system, and that wasn’t going to happen if she spent most of her time in her dorm room.

The journalism room on the third floor of the academy, a couple of tables pushed together with computers at the ready. At the corner of the room sat one of the senior English teachers, a slender woman with angular features, bright green eyes, her hair as black as night tied back into a thin ponytail. The bags under her eyes and a purple Hawthorne Academy mug in her hand said it all, she was overworked and tired. 

Her head cocked to the side, the faculty supervisor of the club took a quick interest in Trini. “New blood” The older woman grinned with a set of coffee stained teeth, “Welcome to the school paper” A pause, a roll of her eyes, “We also do the yearbook”

“Trini this is Ms. Repulsa, she teaches AP English and-” Kat tried to bridge the gap as the older woman circled her own desk, leaning against it. 

“Oh, please, if you’re going to be in this club call me Rita.” She leaned against the desk, setting her mug down behind her in favor of folding her hands, “Repulsa has such  _ negative _ connotations” Her eyes narrowed as if she were trying to solve a puzzle in her head, “Why haven’t I seen  _ you _ before?”

“I’m new” That right there was why Trini wanted to be a part of  _ something,  _ so she wouldn’t perpetually be the  _ new girl _ anymore. At least journalism didn’t require a  _ tryout.  _ “I’m Trini, Trini Gomez”

“Hi there” A head popped up from the back of the room, a girl with dirty blonde hair and brown eyes. Trini could tell that even though Ronny here was wearing her vest, tie and skirt from the school paper that she carried a tomboy energy. “I’m Ronny, Ronny Robinson” She stood up to go introduce herself to the new girl, “I was the new girl before you were the new girl. I may’ve gotten into trouble with illegal racing with cars that...weren’t  _ mine  _ persay. Boarding school in the middle of  _ Maine _ was def my punishment, but hey it beats juvie” 

Illegal underground racing with cars that  _ weren’t _ hers, damn. Trini was  _ impressed,  _ and also relieved that she wasn’t the only one around here that was shipped off to boarding school to shape her life up. Ronny was freaking kick ass. 

“I do the sports section” She continued, sports were about as action packed as it was going to get out here. “My roommate Rose is in charge of the yearbook so uh this is how I got roped up in here”

Trini glanced around the practically empty room, the only people  _ here _ were Rita, Ronny, Kat and Trini. A paper and a yearbook felt daunting if the members of this club weren’t showing up and doing their work. 

“How’s she feeling?” Kat asked, concerned as she sat down on one of the empty tables behind her. “Any better?”

Ronny shrugged her shoulders sadly, “Still won’t get out of bed...she’s normally the energizer bunny. I dunno, it’s starting to worry me. Maybe it’s all the overload of work catching up to her but....she’s barely getting to class”

“Alyssa is still out too” Kat added, her sad eyes flickering up to Trini, “Then there’s Taylor and Lily who seem so...” She trailed off unable to string a sentence together that would paint their situation in a good light. 

“Strung out.” Rita curtly finished for her fresh faced, open hearted, wanting to see the good in everyone pupil. 

“That’s not  _ like  _ them...they’re not…” Kat didn’t want to  _ believe it,  _ “They’re not  _ addicts”  _

“I don’t want to get  _ after school special _ on you Kitty-Kat but a string of bad choices could land you at rock bottom. We don’t know their lives, who they are with outside of campus...hell with how hyped you girls are on hormones and horniness I’d bet that Rose and Alyssa have  _ mono.  _ Either way. Their asses aren’t here. You, _ Fast and Furious, _ and the new kid are what we’ve got to make the deadline. Real life is about scrambling and  _ getting shit done.”  _

It was  _ odd _ the way  _ this _ many girls were suddenly out of commission, girls that didn’t  _ have _ this kind of track record. Trini didn’t like it, didn’t like it at all. Maybe on the outside it looked like  _ drugs _ or being  _ sick,  _ but now that Trini  _ knew _ that there was more to this town that meets the eye...it was worth investigating. These four girls...Ronny and Kat could be targeted next.

“Taylor was the one doing the feature story for this weeks article” Ronny rested her hands on her hips, “We’re kind of fucked if we don’t have a  _ feature”  _

“Better watch your tongue,  _ Veronica,  _ that’s not very ladylike” Rita, the teacher in the room narrowed her eyes at the delinquent. “Looks like I’m throwing you into the deep end Didi”

“It’s...Trini…” The new girl corrected, suddenly regretting the idea of coming into the fold of a drowning school paper, “I don’t...uh can’t I do one of those little puff pieces at the end?”

Rita’s chuckles were a low rumble, “I want to see what you’ve got, I want your  _ best _ not your throwaway. A feature piece could be about anything you want-----anything school appropriate that is, blah blah blah common sense. I’m sure you have it.” She turned to the two girls who had more experience, “Chop chop! If the new girl is going to do the feature piece we’re going to have to cover all the holes.”

Rita Repulsa was unlike any teacher she had come across. Mean, brittle, rough around the edges, she didn’t pull back any of her punches, she wasn’t a kind gentle hand to guide along the way but a swift intensity with high expectations. What the  _ hell _ did Trini just sign herself up for? And what the _ hell _ was she going to write about?

*****

Now tasked with the front page, feature story, Trini agonized about what she would write about. This was her chance to make a statement to Hawthorne Academy, the hello, the new girl has a name, a point of view she’s not a  _ nothing,  _ the girl who hangs around crazy Kira, she’s more than Kimberly’s  _ new roommate.  _ Sitting at her desk Trini tapped the f key multiple times, not having a clue to what she would write. The truth of it was, seeing the journalism room so empty was harrowing. What happened to those girls? 

The silence was broken however when Kimberly came into the room, slamming the door behind her. Flustered she threw her smartphone at her bed, her pillow taking the blow and saving her phone from breaking against the wall. “What a  _ dick”  _ She practically growled. Trini had never seen Kimberly so on edge. The taller girl ran her fingers through her hair as she paced back and forth, trying her best to let off some steam. “Ugh I could rip him apart”

“Hi, honey, how was your day?” Her tone dripping with fake delight with a heavy splash of sarcasm. With Kimberly so in a huff, Trini tried not to look too annoyed by her sudden outburst. It wasn’t like she was getting anywhere on her grand front page news. She leaned back in her chair, her brows raised. 

Kimberly held the bridge of her nose, knowing a bit about anger management, Trini could see that she was counting to five before speaking. “I’m trying to get someone up here from Bridgton to help us out with this...problem, he’s a sorcerer.” Bridgton...the all boys academy, the brother school to Hawthorne. “But he won’t come unless he has a  _ grand welcoming event.  _ Do you know what  _ that _ means? A dance. He wants me to throw a fucking  _ ball _ because his ego is” Her hand raised sky high, “Boys with powers are  _ ridiculous”  _

If this was supposed to be calmed down after five seconds, Trini would hate to see how her rage would be unflited. 

“But I don’t have any power to  _ do _ that, do you know who  _ is?”  _ Overly dramatic, Kimberly put a hand to cup her ear, wanting a little bit of audience participation in her rant. 

Trini glanced over her shoulder, pretending to see if there was anyone else she could  _ possibly _ be addressing before giving her a response. “Headmaster Zordon?” 

“Mia.” Kimberly shook her head, clenching her teeth. With a sharp exhale through her nose she continued, “Who I’ve been trying  _ very _ hard not to let her murder Kira for her little stunt. It’s all over Marah and Kapri’s damn gossip blog”

“The whooseitwhat’s it?” 

Kimberly leaned over Trini, not having any regard for her personal space as she brought up a blog run by two Hawthorne Academy students. Someone captured a photo of Kira and Lauren’s lip lock and submitted it to the gossip sight. Tabloid news. That’s all this was. But at an all girl’s school, Trini could understand why something like  _ this _ would get so popular. When Kimberly was so adamant about keeping up appearances at school, she meant stuff like this...a moment taken out of context now put a target on Kira’s back. Not just from Mia, but anyone who wants to finish the job in wiping out the last of the Shiba clan and claiming the red power coin for their own. Anyone could access this blog, it wasn’t private by any means.

“Huh”

“Yeah,  _ huh.”  _ Kimberly pulled away from hunching over Trini, “And now  _ you’re  _ joining the  _ newspaper?”  _

Right. Kimberly could hear through the damn glass. Some journalist, Trini didn’t even know about her biggest unofficial competition. “Oh I’m sorry, did you need to sign my permission slip?”

“...I’m trying to keep you  _ safe _ and now you joined the  _ one  _ club that’s meant to snoop around and ask questions?” 

“Kim, I’m sick of being the  _ new _ girl. I want to have a  _ thing _ here. Besides....you can be captain of the field hockey team. How is me joining a club any different? This is a  _ good _ thing. If your whole goal is to protect your territory I could...I don’t know, figure shit out and see what’s going on. You and your little pack...you can only do so much. I want to help” It was Trini’s turn to stand up, getting up into Kimberly’s face, “There’s something going on with that club...I think those girls are dying”

Kimberly frowned, folding her arms, her brows lacing with concern. How could something like this be happening under her nose. She could push her Bridgton and Mia problems aside for now. “What do you mean?”

“I mean...all four of these girls who have been affected are star students, overachievers even” Trini did some digging on her new clubmates, “And now suddenly they’re drained of all of their energy one by one? Rose can barely leave her bed, Lily’s practically walking around at the pace of a zombie...they go to class but they’re not  _ present.  _ It’s  _ weird _ and it doesn’t add up”

Kimberly was quick to come to a conclusion, “Fuck... _ fuck”  _ The hair on Kimberly’s arm started to stand on end, “The Rocca sister’s got the last laugh”

“You...no” Trini knew what it felt like to have her blood drained, to feel her life slipping out of her hands. It made her sick to her stomach that four girl’s bright futures were taken away by a vampire, “You mean...they’re  _ already dead?”  _

“It’s possible” Adrenaline was coursing through Kimberly’s veins, it was hard for her to just stand still and talk to the other girl. “Turning Hawthorne girls to try and get me, oh I wouldn’t put it past them...I wouldn’t put it past  _ her.” _

“Well we have to  _ do _ something then” Trini felt a sense of purpose, not by writing an article but by  _ helping _ Kimberly. “Ronny and Kat could be  _ next”  _

“You’re awfully chummy with Kat” The taller girl plucked her phone off of the table, tapping furiously away at the screen. “...And now you’re on the paper with her…”

“...And now  _ you’re _ the one getting awfully  _ nosey _ about what  _ I’m _ up to” Trini pointed out. “You jealous? I can still play frisbee with you later if that’s a big deal” Was Trini attracted to Kat? She had eyes and ears, the girl had an  _ Australian accent.  _ Trini wasn’t sure what was in the cards for  _ that,  _ but Kimberly’s questioning always made her curious...her roommate cared more than she let off.

“Fuck off, Trini” Kimberly opened her bottom drawer and pulled out a basic Hawthrone Academy field hockey t-shirt and a pair of torn up jeans. Clothes that she wouldn’t  _ mind _ getting shredded if she needed to transform, “Do you know where Ronny is? Kat?”

“Sure! Let me check the GPS tracker I left on their uniforms” Trini typed gibberish on her computer before turning her head to Kimberly, “Oh damn, that’s right. I don’t  _ do _ that”

“You’re an idiot” Kimberly rolled her eyes, pulling up Snapchat so she could look at the map. If she were lucky, one if not both of the girls would have it on. “Okay, Kat’s on campus but Ronny’s…” Her eyes narrowed, “I thought that place  _ closed”  _

“Sounds like  _ we _ have to do some recon” Trini reached over to grab her backpack, inside was the mysterious blade she found in the ZEO cave. Sure, she didn’t get any of Lauren’s training yet but...how hard was it to stabby stab anyone or anything dangerous that got near her? 

“No.  _ You _ have homework to do” With ease, Kimberly rested her hands on Trini’s shoulders and plopped her back into her desk chair. “You want a topic? Exclusive take, Hawthorne is throwing a ball for our brothers. Get Mia’s quotes and you’re golden”

“You can’t just sit me on the sidelines. I’m not one of your wolves, I’m my own person with my own choices” Trini tried to get up again, but with Kimberly’s hands on her shoulders she could barely budge. It would be comical if it weren’t so sad. “I’m going  _ with _ you” 

With there being a powerful magical being out and about, Kimberly’s numbers were stretched thin. She knew that. Her pack wasn’t  _ big,  _ it was four girls, a demon hunter and a will only help if paid witch. Lauren and Gia were tasked with patrols, Mia had to stay on campus as a  _ human,  _ Emma was on call and Tanya...she was a big question mark. 

“You can either work  _ with _ me or in  _ spite _ of me.” Trini was going to follow her leads on what was happening to the journalism club with or without Kimberly. “What do you say?”

“.......I say  _ fine”  _ A reluctant fine, but one nevertheless, “But if something goes south, stay out of my way and  _ run.”  _

That had to be... _ some  _ progress, right?

*****

Ronny Robinson’s phone was located at a run down bar by the docks. A place that used to be frequented by sailors and fishermen alike. What was once a family run staple in Silver Hills turned to shambles when the owner died and his son ran the business into the ground. Truly, with the building itself falling to the wayside, it was a surprise to Trini that it wasn’t condemned by the city. What the hell would anyone be doing around these parts? Did the other girls in the newspaper  _ find _ something they weren’t supposed to? A den of vampires squatting in a corner of Kimberly’s territory?

There wasn’t time to waste. Not if Ronny’s life was hanging in the balance. Kimberly used her strength to open the padlocked door with ease. Trini stayed close to the werewolf, her newfound dagger tightly in hand. The place smelled like dead fish, Trini was doing her best not to  _ gag. _ Tables were there collecting dust, the back of the bar was empty and ransacked, walls were covered in cracks left by neglect. There was nothing out here, nothing worth mentioning.

Trini reached to grip Kimberly’s arm, silently nodding her head in the direction of the kitchen doors. If this was a bust, they would both feel better knowing that they had checked  _ everywhere.  _ Madison and Vida Rocca had a history with Kimberly, creating an elaborate trap for the alpha werewolf postmodern would be one last way to mess with their enemy. For  _ old times sake.  _

These two roommates both knew that if these  _ were _ vampires, their senses were heightened, acute, the perfect hunters. The moment Kimberly broke the lock on the door they’d be alerted to their presence. Only now it was time to get into a hiding place, to strike from the dark, a surprise. 

Kimberly pressed her fingertips against the swinging door and pushed it back, allowing herself to go in first and assess the area--sniffing out her surroundings. The edgy underground racer’s body was laying on the floor her eyes wide open and glazed over--what used to be a rich brown had faded into a dull green. Trini was quick to check on the girl, crouching down to assess if she were alive. “I can feel a pulse” Trini was relieved that they weren’t too late, that somehow this girl was still hanging on. “Kimberly what’s wrong with her?” Trini checked for the exposed skin, her neck, there were no bites, no wounds that were drained. 

“She’s been bewitched” Kimberly had seen it before. Ronny didn’t come here of her own free will, but in a trance. 

From above them sitting on a support beam was a crow, loudly cawing, putting both of the girls on edge. Trini rested a hand on her heart, damn bird scared the hell out of her. Her body was not meant to take on this kind of stress. “Christ” Kimberly’s eyes narrowed, if the situation wasn’t so  _ dire _ it looked like a dog trying to intimidate a squirrel on top of a high branch. 

Trini averted her eyes back down to Ronny below her, something still didn’t quite add up. They figured out  _ how _ she got her but not necessarily what happened once she arrived. No wounds, no bite marks. After being forced to watch so many medical television shows with her mother, Trini followed her gut to try and check the other girl’s airway. “Kim…” When Kimberly didn’t look away from the bird, Trini reached back to grab her pant leg, “Kim!” 

_ “What?”  _ Her roommate snapped back, her expression softened upon seeing something black in the blonde’s throat. “What... _ is _ that?”

“I don’t know” Trini wished she had some sort of sterile gloves on, oh this girl had  _ no _ idea how much she would owe her for this. Bending her finger like a hook Trini scooped into Ronny’s now open mouth to try and pull it out. 

Vile. Absolutely horrifically vile stench, Trini and Kimberly both had to turn their heads away to try and prevent their stomachs from doing a flip. The black-like goo substance was small, like a jello, barely able to keep viable now that it was exposed to the air. It melted into Trini’s hand like ice cream on a hot summer’s day. “Euugh”

“Shit!” Abruptly Kimberly pulled Trini by the back of her shirt, getting her out of the way of a butcher’s knife that flew their way. The two girls looked into the direction it had come from to see Rose Ortiz, Ronny Robinson’s roommate, standing at the doorway of the broken down freezer. The short haired Latina was  _ supposed _ to be too weak to even leave her room yet here she was, getting ready to throw another knife. Her eyes had completely blackened over.

“Fressssssssshmeat” Her voice was low, raspy, speaking in a way that didn’t even sound  _ human.  _ What the  _ fuck _ happened to her? 

Trini and Kimberly had to separate from one another at the throw of the second knife. All of her time in the streets and nothing could prepare her for  _ this.  _ Kimberly on the other hand acted quick, the captain of the field hockey team and defender of this land had no problem rushing at Rose. She forcibly grabbed her hands, slamming them against the metal of the freezer door to force the rest of the rusted out knives out of her hands. Kimberly’s chest heaved, breathing heavy, with Rose pinned against the wall. She had time...time to figure out if Rose was still  _ in  _ there or if she failed yet another Hawthorne Academy student. 

Rose’s head slowly, slowly started tilting to the side, despite being pinned by Kimberly her attention was on Trini and Trini alone. Her jaw opened ever so slightly, suddenly two small black tar like hands came up to the sides of her mouth. As if needing a grip for support a large glob of black goo flung itself from deep within Rose’s body and flopped onto the tile of the abandoned kitchen tile. Once it was out of its host, Rose’s body went limp, Kimberly being the only thing to be holding her up. 

A  _ parasite.  _ An energy sucking parasite had been living  _ inside _ of Rose Ortiz for who knows how long, growing, building up the strength to live...thrive and exist outside of a human body. What Trini had found in Ronny’s mouth was it’s larvae, a piece of itself to multiply and take over a new host. 

The parasite started to make a beeline towards Trini, thin ‘arms’ crawled along the ground to make it move faster. Kimberly had to set Rose down gently on the ground while Trini, Trini did the only thing she figured she  _ could  _ do and stab her knife into the parasite’s gut. Only because it wasn’t a  _ solid _ shape at all it was able to minimize itself and twist it’s elastic body around the blade to not be affected at all.  _ Fuck.  _

“Kiiiiim!” Trini called out to her roommate, swinging the dagger again only to miss. The parasite was able to adapt and with it’s arms it made grabbing Trini and pinning her to the ground the same way Kimberly had Rose pinned against the wall seem like child’s play. 

Trini knew what it wanted, what it was  _ trying _ to do. It wanted  _ her,  _ for whatever reason it was attracted to her, gravitated to her. The parasite was willing to leave it’s host body in Rose to try and find a new form. The only thing Trini could do was to shake her head left and right, trying to keep moving, her mouth shut tight. No matter how much she tried to move her arms she was  _ stuck,  _ held down by the monster’s force.

Kimberly needed to act fast. In her human form she only had enough power, enough strength to do certain things. As a teenage girl she lunged forward, morphing into a  _ beast,  _ the alpha werewolf. Razor sharp teeth bit into a chunk of the parasite, forcibly dragging it off of Trini. It bought the shorter girl just enough time to scoot up and get back into a standing position. 

If things got rough, she was supposed to run, but she couldn’t leave Kimberly. Not with a monster that could bend to it’s own will like putty. Wherever Trini stepped, the parasite would try to follow her, as if Kimberly wasn’t there. No matter what Kimberly would do to try and get it away from Trini, it would shift it’s body and dance around. As a wolf Kimberly could only do  _ so _ much to it, if she pounced it would twist away, nothing would  _ last.  _ It was a game of cat and mouse where the prize was one human girl in the price of Trini. 

The small ball of goo that was in Ronny’s mouth melted away, what they needed to do was  _ melt _ the slimy monster. No amount of brute force was going to  _ kill  _ it for good. Seeing a gas stove, Trini slid herself across the prep counter to try and flick it on. The building was condemned by the city, it was a long shot to even  _ try, _ “Oh come on! Come on!” By some  _ miracle _ or by some sheer force of  _ willpower,  _ the gas stove was able to start up. Trini couldn’t believe her eyes but beggars couldn’t be choosers, the damn stove worked! Now it just needed to be  _ hot _ enough. 

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees, a whopping 260 degrees celsius, that would do the trick. All Kimberly had to do was to continue to keep it’s attention for the length of time it took to heat up. The wolf was in a losing match, the slime easily stuck to her fur allowing the parasite to get a good grip on the beast to slam her into a nearby wall.

“Kim!” Trini wished that she could do more, that she wasn’t just a useless  _ human _ with a stupid knife that wouldn’t be able to cut through a parasite. 

She couldn’t just  _ wait _ for the oven to preheat, not with Kimberly facing a losing battle. Grabbing a frying pan, Trini turned on the stovetop to get the metal warm. It would have to do as a weapon, Lauren and her  _ fire sword _ were nowhere in sight. With one big swing, Trini was able to land a blow to the creature, causing it to screech and hiss in pain. It was  _ working.  _

_ Beep beep beep.  _

That seemed quicker than how long it should normally take...but the oven was  _ ready to go.  _

“You want me. Come and get me!” Trini dropped the frying pan and made way for the back of the kitchen once more. Kimberly now in on the plan started to snap her teeth pushing it slowly back and slowly back...while the parasite was  _ strong _ it wasn’t an intelligent being. Working together the two roommates were able to swing it into the oven, sealing it shut. This bitch was about to be  _ cooked.  _

Kimberly and Trini took a couple of steps back, watching the black slime bounce around in the oven, boiling  _ alive _ before it started to melt into a puddle. It was gone. It was  _ dead.  _ The two girls could breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the monster had been defeated. 

“We did good” Trini crouched down, reaching her hand out towards Kimberly’s face. She had never quite seen her roommate in the light like this. Normally the black wolf was shrouded in darkness, only to see her piercing amber eyes. Her dark fur was beautiful in the light of day, the window glistening in with natural light made her coat glean. Kimberly closed the distance between them, letting a wall down to allow for her roommate to run her fingers through her fur. 

Kimberly closed her eyes, only allowing Trini to touch her for a moment before turning herself away. She hated being a wolf, feeling like a monster, she hid herself away from the rest of the school...only allowing a few people to see her like this, to  _ know _ her truth. Behind the high walls was just a teenage girl in  _ pain.  _

The werewolf padded over to Rose, prompting Trini to follow her and check her pulse. The demon hadn’t  _ won,  _ Rose was still hanging in there...as was Ronny. Surely this was what happened to girls like Alyssa, Taylor and Lily as well. Now that they knew...Tanya and Lauren would be able to take care of this. The real question was...where did these parasites even _come from?_

“She’s okay” Trini assured Kimberly, “She’s going to be okay, Kim” Today wasn’t a failure, today didn’t mark for another funeral at Hawthorne Academy. “We make for a good team, don’t you think?”

Kimberly couldn’t  _ communicate _ with Trini by the use of words, not in this form, but her eyes said it all. That maybe...just maybe...Trini wasn’t the  _ worst.  _


	11. Finding a Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With a ball coming around the corner, Trini's out looking for a date...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure you've known but with working two jobs this time of year is always the worst for me. This year is x5 worse than my worst year when it comes to being busy...a lot of 12-14 hour days back to back and it's just felt relentless this year. It's never started this early and it's never hit this hard. But I wanted to still share SOMETHING along the lines and while this isn't a big update....it's something.
> 
> <3 hope you all enjoy :)

Joining the school paper was Trini’s sense of normal in this abnormal town. Well, normal after the whole parasite demons were extracted from her classmates. With Tanya’s memory dust, the girls were none the wiser.  _ Normal. _ Here she could have a conversation without monsters, threats, image, or the laundry list of horrors in the town of Silver Hills, or the werewolves that protected this land. After almost dying in the woods a couple of times, it felt nice to feel  _ mundane  _ for a couple hours. 

Kat Hillard felt a huge sense of relief when the other girls of the paper started to file back in, full of pep and energy. Their teacher Ms. Repulsa wasn’t amused by any of this and instead of welcoming them back with open arms, she was cut throat to give them a faster deadline. Rita Repulsa was many things, but  _ patient _ wasn’t one of them. Trini slowly started to warm up to her new colleagues, her  _ group. _

Rose Ortiz was an overachiever, a girl who Trini’s mom would’ve adored as a daughter. Instead, June got the fuck up. There was barely a moment where Rose wasn’t doing  _ some _ sort of work, whether it be for a club, the paper, homework, or studying. After being so sluggish the past couple of days she had to rally back, an iced coffee always in hand. 

Then there was Lily Chilman. She acted like the down to Earth older sister of the girls. On top of being a student, she held a job at the local pizza shop in town. She would always be bringing in food, or snacks for the group. Taylor Earhardt was a student athlete, a double threat who was the captain of the basketball team in the winter and a star high jumper in the spring. She had big dreams and plans to join the AirForce after she graduated. Which left Alyssa Enrilé, a quiet girl who still needed to warm up to the idea of someone  _ new _ being into their group. From what Trini could tell, was that the girl loved animals---ha. She’d probably get a kick hearing that Trini’s roommate was a  _ wolf.  _

The one Trini was drawn to the  _ most _ was Ronny Robinson. The dirty blonde wasn’t here on scholarship, or because she was a good student...she was like Trini. A girl who got in  _ trouble _ and was sent off to  _ boarding  _ school to try as an effort to try and shape up their behavior. With a waft of confidence, the street racer was so  _ cool. _ Ronny was a girl that Trini  _ wanted _ to be friends with...but couldn’t quite figure out  _ how.  _ She couldn’t exactly go up to the girl and go on about how she rescued her from a life draining parasite that lived inside her gut.

Though, as the new girl she needed to impress. This first article would be her introduction, not only to the girls of the paper, but for school to know that she existed and wasn’t just the  _ new girl.  _ She was so sick and tired of being the new girl,  _ always.  _ Having an exclusive in with Kimberly would prove to be beneficial, the  _ paper _ would be the ones to break the news of a ball at Hawthorne Academy. Anything to get the edge over the gossip blog run by Marah and Kapri.

Trini joined Mia and Emma after school hours to watch the field hockey team practice from the discomfort of the metal bleachers. With a notepad in hand, she was ready to conduct her first interview. For once she could talk to the girls of Kimberly’s pack without Kimberly breathing down her neck. For as long as she’s been here at Hawthorne...Trini didn’t know much about the other werewolves, just what she had been told from Kira. Not much of it was favorable.

“Just ask what’s on your mind” Mia didn’t take her eyes off of the field, “I can feel you thinking” The girl appeared tense, her hands clutched in balls resting on her lap, “It’s annoying”

“I can’t exactly shut off my brain” 

“Relax” Emma kept her voice down, reaching over to stroke the other girl’s arm, “You’re being snippy” While Gia was Kimberly’s brute force muscle, Mia’s bite was in her tongue. Intimidation with words, what a gift. “Sorry” The kind one of the pack leaned forward, smiling sympathetically, it always fell onto Emma to apologize for her fellow wolves. “She’s under a lot of pressure”

“It’s okay...I get it” Trini knew how hard event planning could be. June didn’t need to be bit by a werewolf to turn into an obsessive detail oriented fiend. It was a miracle Trini got through her quinceanera without biting her mom’s head off, “I uh, I really don’t know where to start”

“You’re going to make a  _ great _ reporter” With a warning glare from Emma, Mia had to relent, sighing. “Who, what, where, when, and why. That’s your backbone” Kat, nor Rita really prepped her for what this gig entailed, in fact; Ms. Repulsa was quick to throw her in the deep end just to see what she’d come up with. “Mia Watanabe, against all odds, puts together an incredible ball with barely a budget, and an astronomical time crunch” A pause, “You’ll want to condense that for your headline”

“Really? I was hoping to be  _ big  _ and  _ bold _ and take up as  _ much _ of the space as possible” Mia had her match made in Trini’s sarcastic nature. Seeing Emma shake her head, and lean back on her hands, Trini decided for the kind werewolf’s sake that she’d  _ try _ to meet them halfway. “Sorry, you just make it too easy.” 

Well, she already had the  _ what:  _ a ball, the  _ who:  _ Mia Watanabe, the  _ how:  _ a miracle, the  _ when:  _ next Friday. This was a school with a population of females, they didn’t want to read something dry. Trini and the paper’s biggest competition was a  _ gossip blog.  _ “So...what’s the theme?”

"Ha" Mia laughed, shaking her head, she had reached the point of being  _ so _ fed up with the situation she was put in that she  _ had _ to laugh at the absurdity. "The theme of the ball, of  _ course _ is stroking Tommy Oliver's ego" With a hand she made a slow wave as if presenting something, "We're hosting the world's biggest egomaniac so I have to cater to  _ his _ taste" 

"Who....who exactly  _ is _ Tommy Oliver?" It was a fair question, at least in Trini's mind. She wasn't a resident in Silver Hills for very long, she didn't know the ins and outs of who was who quite yet. "I keep hearing his name" As in Kimberly cursing out her phone. It was a wonder that the poor device hadn't shattered. Trini wondered if Tanya perhaps enchanted it to protect the phone from a werewolf sized temper tantrum.

"You know the ZEO Cave?" Emma asked, glancing away from the field---glancing away from Gia for a moment. "He's a powerful sorcerer, a direct descendant of Zebediah Erneast Oliver himself." Now they were talking  _ off _ the record. A  _ legacy.  _

"In order to get him on our side, or even  _ care _ about this threat...we have to make an appealing offer" Mia glanced over to the newcomer in their little secret circle. "He's turned his back on us before"

"He sounds like a real  _ prince."  _

"In a sense, he is" Emma had to agree, "Territory, power, influence...Silver Hills is prime real estate for people who are... _ mystical." _

"When you say he turned his back on you before..."

"We were desperate...back in those days, the dark days" As Mia spoke, Emma reached down to hold her hand. The subject of them becoming werewolves to begin with was a sensitive topic for the pack. "A direct descendant of an  _ Oliver, _ there was a time we thought he was our only chance of freedom from Red." 

"His asking price was too much..." Emma continued, her thumb stroking Mia's hand. "He had a list of demands. Of course he wanted Silver Hills, we would gladly let him have it, really. No...he wanted Lauren's power coin, and of course..."

Emma couldn't say it. So Mia had to. "He wanted Kimberly."

The pack of four girls would rather struggle and overturn their alpha on their own over accepting Tommy Oliver's help. Gia, Emma, and Mia weren't going to let Kimberly go from one power obsessed man to another.

"Oh" Trini looked to the field, she  _ knew _ the likes of Gia and Kimberly could hear them. Their ears must've been burning. As the team captain, Kimberly was standing next to her coach, she was supposed to be watching the likes of her girls running a drill, but no---intense eyes wouldn't break from Trini. "I'm sorry" Trini murmured lowly. As much as she loved to push Kimberly's buttons she couldn't help but to  _ feel _ for her. If only to try and ease her pain. 

"So no, I'm not  _ thrilled _ about this ball. Any of this. I don't know what Kimberly is planning...but it says a lot if she's even  _ entertaining _ this" Mia trailed off, knowing she should be wise of how she spoke about her alpha, "The theme is fall harvest, by the way"

Right! The ball. Trini was quick to jot that down as well as the list of what Mia was planning for this whole ordeal. Rich autumn decorations, locally donated ciders, desserts, as well as a clam bake. It wouldn't be complete without hayrides and carriages. All Mia needed to figure out was the music and she was shaping up to get everything together in a time crunch. 

"Do you have a date?" Emma asked curiously, wanting to change the subject. When Gia looked in the direction of the three girls in the stand, Emma coyily waved back, her smile not-so-innocent. 

It dawned on Trini that there was a reason these two go to the  _ practices _ and that was to thirst over Gia and Lauren. Trini could understand...there was something so sexy about athletic women in their natural habitat. She always saw Kimberly as the pain in the ass roommate or commander of a wolfpack but never in this tomboy field hockey element. It was a different side of her...

"I uh" Trini blinked, "Nah I don't have a date" She wasn't exactly the school dance type, let alone a full blown harvest themed  _ ball.  _

"Well you  _ are _ coming." It wasn't a question. If Mia was going to stick her neck out and wear herself thin, everyone in their associated group was  _ going _ to this thing.

"What about Kira?" Emma asked, in a much nicer tone. "You two are super close"

"We're not..." Trini trailed off, the idea of going to a school dance with her best friend felt  _ weird.  _ She liked being around the musician but friendship was all they were going to be, "We're not like that"

“I dunno….” This was her chance to start warming up to the other girls of the pack, "What do you think of Ronny Robinson?"

_ "Oh"  _ Emma's eyes widened, surprised to hear that name come out of Trini's mouth. "She's ah-"

It was then the blonde of the wolf pack stopped in her tracks, taking the opportunity to turn to the stands to scoff out a laugh, "She's way out of your league!" Gia really went out of her way to tease Trini.

"Moran! Focus!" Kimberly shouted from the other side of the field, a stern glare was enough to get Gia's head back in the game. The pack leader folded her arms, her posture shifting, Trini had lived with the other girl long enough to know that she was having a big mood moment.

What was she so upset about?

*****

"It sucks that a  _ ball _ is what gets this place to liven up but hey, anything to break up the monotony y'know?" Kira looked up from her notebook, she was currently trying to write her own lyrics for a song she had been working on. The aspiring musician would hum a tune, the part that couldn't click were the words. "...You know what I mean" She added, now that they knew the truth of what went bump in the night, every day they had to be a bit on edge for what  _ could _ happen.

"So...you... _ are _ going to this thing?" A part of Trini wanted to sit this one out, having the dorm room to herself would be nice. Then again, after hearing about Tommy Oliver and a snippet of their past...there was something in her that wanted to  _ be _ there for Kimberly. Not that she could do much of anything to help against a pure blooded rich with power sorcerer. 

"Ah what can I say? I'm a sucker for drama. It makes for the  _ best _ people watching" 

"Yeah, I'll say" Trini deadpanned, she didn't need to remind the unhinged Kira about her momentary lapse. Kissing Lauren Shiba was an idiotic move on her part. "Does Mia still want to kill you?"

"Definitely" Mia made herself known during the times Lauren was teaching Kira and Trini the basics of self defense. 

"Ah they'll get over it" Kira waved it off, "I just....ugh...all of this makes me so mad" It was frustrating to feel  _ powerless.  _ "I'm thinking about asking Zack to be my date, if you want me to hook you up with Jason"

"That sounds so wrong..."

"Not all dates have to be  _ romaaaantic"  _ Kira drawled out, teasing Trini. Obviously neither one of them showed any sort of attraction to the local Silver Hills boys, "This is just their ticket into the party" A pause, a tilt of the head, "Unless" A fake gasp, Kira held onto her chest, "Does young Trini Gomez have  _ feelings _ for someone?"

"I wouldn't call them  _ feelings"  _

"Translation: there's a girl you think is hot and you want a little somethin' somethin'."

Embarrassed, Trini shoved Kira's arm, her cheeks burning. "This is an all girls boarding school, not a nunnery." The last time Trini had  _ fun _ and was getting somewhere with a girl, she ended up being a  _ vampire.  _ "Ronny's hot okay?"

Kira's smirk grew wide, not having to dig  _ anything _ out of her best friend. "You wanna let her take you for a spin?"

"Shut. Up." Trini was lucky that the pair of them were sitting in Kira and Tanya's dorm room and not in the courtyard---in  _ earshot _ of the werewolves. 

Truly when it came to Ronny, Trini was feeling a mix of different things. Part of her wanted to  _ be  _ her, another part wanted to be her friend...but...the idea of  _ maybe _ being something more? Nothing serious, nothing committal just... _ hot.  _ Trini missed that rush of excitement that came with kissing another girl---being with another girl.

The door cracked open and in came Tanya, giving Kira the perfect opportunity to ask, "Hey T, what do you think about Ronny Robinson?"

The witch for hire wasn't impressed, her brow raised, looking at her roommate with the utmost skepticism, "She's definitely out of  _ your _ league." A comment that broke Trini's embarrassment, "Silver Hills is crazy enough without your chaotic asses hooking up"

Kira rested back on her hands, taking a break from her task of writing lyrics. "Not for me" Her relationship status was complicated enough as it was. "For Trini"

"Oh" A pause, a tilt of her head, "Aw" That wasn't helping Trini's self confidence in any means.

Trini rolled her eyes, "I  _ have _ game, you know." No one had any sort of faith in Trini's abilities to get another girl, they didn't know  _ what _ she was like before transferring to Hawthorne Academy. Hell if  _ anyone _ had a chance with Ronny, Trini was confident in herself. "Let's just say you won't have to worry about me being a target for a virgin sacrifice" 

Tanya slung her bag off of her back and onto her bed, she was tired and done for the day, "Yeah, that's a common misconception" She hopped onto her bed, sitting at the edge, "Virgin blood just means never used for a ritual not that you got your freak on"

_ "Wonderful" _

Kira couldn't help but chuckle behind Trini, reaching over to part the girl's shoulder. "There there blood virgin"

"I for one am going to go solo" Tanya shrugged, there was nothing wrong with being single at a dance, keeping her options open. "I wanna see if I can snag one of those Brigton boys''

"I still say you should take Jason" Kira shrugged, "He's always down to clown"

Maybe....maybe if all else failed Trini would take her up on that.

*****

Trini had asked girls out on dates before...ah, scratch that. They weren’t exactly  _ dates,  _ certainly nothing to this degree. Her talents were getting girls to hang out with her, no pressure, nothing formal...nothing  _ committal.  _ If something were to happen then that was just a bonus. When it came to Ronny, Trini wanted to be around her, to get to know her to be someone in her circle. God, why did it feel so hard to  _ make friends _ around this place, let alone ask a girl out on a date. 

Ronny was sitting at a computer station, typing away at her latest article. The former street racer could feel Trini’s eyes on her, so she politely took out one of her earbuds. “What’s up Rook?” That was her nickname for Trini,  _ a rookie _ in this club. “Writer’s block?”

“Something like that” Trini sat down next to the other girl, she was quickly losing confidence in herself to ask the other girl out on a date.  _ The date.  _ As much game as she talked, she was starting to crumble under the pressure. The butterflies in her stomach were going crazy, just happy to be sitting next to the other girl. This was her chance to be her friend, “I’m not exactly a dance kind of person, it’s hard to get excited about it”

“Ah, well, I know a lot of girls are excited to have some  _ boys _ around” Ronny chuckled, “The other way too, everyone’s just….super horny around these big combined school events”

Yeah, that summed it up well. 

“Are you going?” Trini asked, hoping that would segway nicely into the possibility of her asking the other girl out. 

“Nah, I’m skipping this one.” The dirty blonde confidently smirked, making eye contact with Rose across the way, “Rose has been so down with this---whatever funk---that I’m going to take her up the coast to Corinth to get away from all of this”

_ “Oh”  _ Well, at least Trini didn’t shoot herself in the foot. “Well that should be good” Rose was so dedicated to her work that she doubted she  _ ever _ came up for air. With the parasite sucking away her energy, she had fallen behind and was now on catchup duty. “You’re a good friend” Good. Keep saying the word good. Idiot.

“Ah I try to be” Ronny shrugged, she was looking out for her roommate's sanity. “That girl needs some serious fun injections” She glanced over to Trini beside her, “You’re welcome to come with if you want to ditch the dance, make it a ladies night?”

That was all Trini wanted. A chance to spend time with Ronny outside of the walls of Hawthorne Academy. It was an in to be her friend, to be in someone else’s social circle. As much as she wanted to be around someone she admired, someone she felt was so cool, she couldn’t accept the offer. She felt like avoiding the dance all together would somehow be turning her back on Kimberly. Her gut, and Mia’s insistence, told her that she needed to be at this ball. “I gotta see this piece through” Hopeful she continued, “But raincheck? I’ve never gone to Corinth”

“I’ll hold you to that, Rook” Ronny didn’t seem to be offended at all, if anything, Trini hoped that she was warming up to her. 

As far as the dance went...it looked like Trini would be giving Jason Scott a call.

*****

Trini never knew what to expect when she entered her dorm room, her shared space with the alpha werewolf. Today, Kimberly sat on her bed, her knees up and furiously writing down in a notebook. Her brows quirked at the sound of the door closing but she couldn’t peel her eyes away from the pad of paper. “You’re early”

“Yes?” Was there a question there? With a huff, Trini plopped her backpack down on her desk chair, she had no intention of looking at her homework for a couple of hours...let alone her news article on the harvest ball. “I am interrupting something?”

“You’re always interrupting something” Kimberly shot back, her lips curling into a small, yet teasing smile. “How’d it go with Ronny?”

“I don’t want to talk about it” The older girl couldn’t say no if Trini never asked...so it didn’t go... _ bad,  _ but Trini couldn’t say it went great either. “She’s out of my league” Really, it was for the best.

“Ah, that’s true” With a tut of her head, Kimberly agreed.

“Wow, thanks” 

“It’s just as well” Kimberly decided to acknowledge that her roommate wasn’t going anywhere, anytime soon. She closed the spiral notebook in the drawer of her end table with plans of returning to it later.

“What? I can’t have a  _ date _ to a stupid ball now? God, you’re worse than my mother” Trini shook her head in disbelief, “I’m my own person, if I wanna go out and---you know what, I don’t even need to  _ explain _ myself to you”

“Every connection that’s another person I have to worry about Trini. We’re not...we don’t get to  _ have _ these kinds of luxuries. If you want to have a girlfriend  _ fine,  _ see if I care, but you’ll have to stay the hell out of my way.”

“And keep your secrets.” Trini folded her arms, her eyes narrowing, she thought she was getting to be on better terms with Kimberly. With the two of them defeating the parasite together, she thought that would be like an olive branch extending. Trini hesitated, “Do you care?”

_ “No”  _

“Well I sure as hell do” Trini wasn’t going to play this little dance. Not with Kimberly always trying to make the power play into telling Trini what  _ she _ could do, or be. “Mia and Emma told me about Tommy Oliver. I get that this---whatever new player in town is freaking you out but he sounds like-”

Kimberly got to her feet, feeling as if Trini was challenging her. Trini noticed that was something her roommate liked to do when her feathers were ruffled, use her height to her advantage. No, not this time. Trini knew not to be intimidated by the werewolf. She was going to stand her ground, Kimberly sacrificed too much of herself to keep the students of Hawthorne Academy safe. 

“You don’t know anything.” Kimberly rose a finger, her eyes narrowing at the shorter girl.

“I know that you tried to get him to help  _ before,  _ what his asking price was--if he wasn’t going to help you then….Kimberly you  _ can’t _ let a guy like that-”

“A guy like that, what?  _ Treat me like a pet? _ I told you this isn’t a game Trini.” With a heavy sigh, Kimberly turned away to look out the window. From their room they had a view of the vast forest, the territory she inherited when she overturned Red’s reign as the alpha. “If I married Tommy like he wanted me too, then Tori would still be alive.”

“Tell me you’re not considering...whatever this is Kimberly... _ whoever _ it is out there, we can face it together. You don’t have to sell yourself out for a man to use you like a trophy” Trini’s heart ached for Kimberly, to be this young and have such a weight on her shoulders. To the outside world she was the standoffish, rich, popular, not to mess with girl but Trini...she saw past the cracks in her walls. Kimberly wasn’t just a  _ wolf _ but a teenage girl. 

“He thinks I’m entertaining his offer, seeing the light of my ‘mistakes’.” In her side profile, Trini could see that Kimberly’s eyes were darkening. “I can’t go up against  _ magic _ like he can. Whoever out there is looking for  _ power,  _ the coins, the crystal. This ball is just a stage, and Tommy is playing the  _ fool.”  _

“What are you saying?” Trini asked, not entirely following Kimberly’s train of thought. 

Kimberly licked her lips, smacking them in a quiet popping noise before responding. “I’m using him as bait. I’m sick of  _ waiting _ for whoever’s out there to make their move.” She glanced over to Trini, “So you’re going to be good, and have a  _ fun time _ at the dance. I can’t risk you getting hurt”

“Like hell” Trini spat back, “Lauren’s been teaching us...I’ve got the dagger from the cave. I want to  _ help you.”  _ She wanted to be treated with respect, like she was a part of this team. A  _ partner. _

Kimberly opened her drawer, the one where she placed the notebook, to pull out Trini’s dagger; the one from the ZEO cave. “You really should be more careful with your things.” She was quick to raise her arm the moment Trini tried to swipe it away, with her free hand Kimberly then lightly pushed her roommate back against her own bed, putting the distance between them. “I’m going to need to borrow this”

“Ugh, you’re such a bitch, you know that?” Trini clenched her fists, hating how easy it was for Kimberly to physically over power her, it wasn’t fair. “I thought we were on the same team! I want to help you” 

“Yeah, well, for  _ this _ game. I’m benching you.” Kimberly’s harsh expression softened as she looked to her roommate, “Please, I’ve already lost one roommate. I can’t lose you too. You just have to trust me.”

Trini looked away, her jaw clenching, “You think I wanna lose  _ you?” _ She hated feeling this way, about a girl who constantly pushed her away for her ‘greater good’. No matter how much Trini wanted to stray away from Kimberly, she couldn’t, not entirely. “You think I can sit back  _ knowing?”  _ What if Kimberly got hurt...what if….what if she never came back? 

“I’ll be just fine.” Kimberly wasn’t very reassuring to Trini with that remark. Fine? What the hell did fine even  _ mean _ anymore. It was all so much easier when Trini  _ hated _ Kimberly. “Don’t get in my way, or I’ll  _ make you _ stay out of my way. Got it?”

“Yeah…. _ crystal clear” _

Trini had  _ no _ intentions of staying idly by. Not this time.


End file.
